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Manual of ?Inrl icnll lire, Tdahn. 



PI.A-rE I. 




Mcintosh red 



A Manual of Horticulture 

FOR THE 

STATE OF IDAHO 



COMPILED BY 

JOHN U. McPHERSON 

STATE INSPECTOR 



19 13 
PUBLISHED BY THE 

IDAHO STATE BOARD OF 
HORTICULTURE 

BOISE -:- IDAHO 



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I DESIGNED AND PRINTED 
i THROUGHOUT IN IDAHO BY 



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D. DF 0. 

DEG 22 IIS 



Colored Plates Printed by The CaxtOxM Printehs 



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CONTENTS 



Report of State Inspector 7 

Financial Report of Secretary 11 

Report of State Bee Inspector 15 

Geological History of Idaho 17 

By J. M. Aldrich. 

Physical Features of Idaho 21 

By Elias Nelson. 

Climate of Idaho 25 

By Edw. L. Wells. 

Native Vegetation of Idaho 35 

By J. M. Aldrich. 

Idaho Irrigation Methods 39 

By Don H. Bark. 

Principles and Methods of Irrigation 47 

By Elias Nelson. 

Fruit for Home Use -.-. 55 

By T. A. Allen. 

Fruit By-products 59 

By C. J. Sinsel. 

By-Products 62 

By Fremont Wood. 

Commercial Fruit Growing in Idaho 65 

By -John U. McPherson. 

Prune Industry in Idaho 71 

By C. J. Sinsel. 

European Grapes in the Clearwater Valley 75 

By Robert Schleicher. 

Science of Grading and Packing Apples 80 

By Roy C. Brock. 

Principal Insects Injurious to Fruits in Idaho 101 

Compiled by John U. McPherson. 

Pi'incipal Fungus Diseases of Fruits in Idaho .129 

Compiled by John U. McPherson. 

Control of Pear Blight 141 

By P. J. O'Gara. 

Preparation of Spraying Materials 183 

Compiled by John U. McPherson. 

Reports of District Inspectors 193 

By the Deputy Inspectors. 

Appendix — Description of Colored Plates 215 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Plate I. — Mcintosh Red Apple {Full Colors) Frontisipeee 

Plate II.— Bartlett Pear (Full Colors) 16 

Plate III. — Map of Idaho, showing normal annual precipitation .... 25 

Plate IV. — Map of Idaho, showing normal annual isotherms 32 

Plate V. — White Winter Pearmain Apple {Full Colors) 40 

Plate VI. — Winesap Apple {Full Colors) 48 

Plate VII.— Yellow Newton Apple {Full Colors) 65 

Plate VIII.— Italian Prune {Full Colors) 72 

Plate IX. — View in the Vineyard of Robert Schleicher 80 

Plate X.— Delicious Apple {Full Colors) 89 

Plate XL— Fig. 1, 56 apples; Fig, 2, 72 apple; Fig. 3, 72 
apples; Fig. 4, 80 apples; Fig. 5, 96 apples; 

Northwest Standard Box 92 

Plate XII.— Fig. 1, 96 apples; Fig. 2, 112 apples, North- 
west Standard Box; Fig. 3, 112 apples; Fig. 
4, 120 apples; Fig. 5, 158 apples, Northwest 

Special Box 92 

Plate XIII. — Fig. 1, 128 apples. Northwest Special Box; 
Fig. 2, 138 apples; Fig. 3, 160 apples; Fig. 4, 

165 apples. Northwest Standard Box 92 

Plate XIV. — Fig. 1, Manner of starting the three and one- 
half -tier pack; Fig. 2, Side view of box after 

nailing 96 

Plate XV. — Fig. 1, Nailing Press, best type; Fig. 2, North- 
west Greening Apple 96 

Plate XVI. — Manner of Packing Boxes in a Car 96 

Plate XVII. — Idaho Apples, Commercial Pack 98 

Plate XVIIL— Comice Pear {Full Colors) 101 

Plate XIX.— San Jose Scale 102 

Plate XX.— Fig. 1, The Codling Moth; Fig. 2, Woolly Aphis 108 

Plate XXI. — Fig. 1, Mytilaspis Pomorum; Fig. 2, Peach 

Twig Borer 112 

Plate XXII.— Fig. 1, Cottony Maple Scale; Fig. 2, Flat- 
headed Apple Tree Borer; Fig. 3, The Grape 

Phylloxera 120 

Plate XXIIL— Wealthy Apple {Full Colors) 129 

Plate XXIV.— Grimes Golden Apple {Full Colors) 130 

Plate XXV.— Jonathan Apple {Full Colors) 144 

Plate XXVI.— Fig. 1, Wrong Form of Pear Tree; Fig. 2, 
Result of Growing a Tree with Central Leader; 
Fig. 3, A Bad Crown Infection on Spitzenberg 

Apple; Fig. 4, Body Infection of Bartlett Pear 152 

Plate XXVII.— Fig. 1, Bartlett Pear Tree Showing Blight 
Eradicated from the Body; Fig. 2, A Bad Infec- 
tion of the Body and Root System; Fig. 3, 
Crown Gall on Branch of Spitzenberg Apple; 

Fig. 4, Spitzenberg Infected with Pear Blight 161 

Plate XXVIII.— Elberta Peach {Full Colors) 176 

Plate XXIX.— Wagner Apple {Full Colors) 193 

Plate XXX.— Anjou Pear {Full Colors) 200 

Plate XXXI.— Rome Beauty Apple {Full Colors) 208 

Plate XXXII.— Gano Apple {Full Colors) 224 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 



Boise, Idaho, December 31, 1912. 

Honorable James H. Hawley, 

Governor of Idaho, Boise, Idaho. 

My Dear Sir — I have the honor to present to you the 
biennial report of the State Horticultural Inspector, and 
the secretary of the State Board of Horticultural Inspec- 
tion, together with the reports of the Deputy Inspectors. 

Examination of these reports will show that the fruit 
industry has advanced rapidly in the last two years. The 
State Inspector reports that the fruit crop of Idaho for 
1912 was of a value of three millions of dollars, and it is 
certain that the production will increase rapidly from year 
to year until our fruit crop will be one of the main re- 
sources of revenue for the people of our state, as it is 
already the product which advertises the state more than 
any other one thing. 

You will notice that the fruit acreage has now reached 
a total of 142,773 acres, with a probable increase in 
the coming two years. 

The Board concurs in the recommendations of the 
State Inspector regarding the changes in the horticultural 
law. We feel that we should be able to allot sufficient 
sums of money to each district so that the necessary in- 
spection work can be carried on the year round. We 
also trust that the legislature will recognize the growing 
importance of the work, and will make this department 
an appropriation of $50,000 which is necessary to carry 
on the work. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 

Chas. p. Hartley, 

President Idaho State Board 
of Horticultural Inspection. 



STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURAL INSPECTION 



Henry W. Dorman, President Caldwell 

John U. McPherson, Secretary Boise 

B. F. Hurst Boise 

Robert Schleicher Lewiston 

John D. C. Kruger St. Anthony 

D. L. INGARD Fruitland 

STATE HORTICULTURAL INSPECTOR 

John U. McPherson Boise 



REPORT OF THE STATE HORTICULTURAL 
INSPECTOR. 



To the State Board of Horticultural hwpection: 

I submit for your approval my report as State Horti- 
cultural Inspector for the years 1911 and 1912, 

I feel that the work, as a whole, has been of a benefit 
to not only the fruit growers of this state but to the people 
of the state at large. It has been my honest endeavor to 
strictly enforce the horticultural laws up to that point 
where it was of the greatest benefit to the fruit industry 
of the state, and also to see that every dollar that was 
appropriated by the state for this work has been expended 
for the direct benefit of the horticultural industry of the 
state, and I believe that the class of fruit which was raised 
and shipped from the state this year is evidence that this 
work has been of a benefit. I do not believe that there 
has been a year in the history of the state that the fruit 
has been so free from insect pests and disease, and I wish 
at this time to thank and commend the good work of the 
growers of the state for their co-operation in spraying 
and in the general care given their orchards. The depart- 
ment has carried on a very rigid inspection of all nursery 
stock within the state, as well as upon all stock which has 
been shipped into the state. During 1911 a great many 
thousand trees were condemned and burned which had 
been shipped in from adjoining states. The stock of the 
year 1912 showed a marked turn toward the better, and 
I am satisfied that our work of 1911 caused the outside 
nurserymen to ship in better stock than heretofore. This 
phase of the inspection, however, has been a very dis- 
agreeable one for the reason that our funds were very 
low for this work. While the law provides that the 
inspection of all incoming stock shall be paid for by the 
receiver of such stock, still at the same time it often 



8 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

occurred that the deputy inspector had to travel some 
distance to inspect this stock and oftentimes the inspection 
charges would amount to more than the stock was worth, 
and in that event the state had to stand some of the 
expense, this amount coming out of the general fund, and 
in that way it decreased our working capital considerably. 
It is my opinion that this inspection of nursery stock 
should be paid for by the state as it is of benefit to all the 
state and not only to the receiver of the stock. The 
inspection of incoming nursery stock should be carried 
on more rigidly in the coming years than it has in the 
past. Each year the fruit growers of the state are put 
to an enormous expense in spraying for the various pests 
which we now have, all of which were introduced into the 
state on incoming nursery stock, and it is necessary that 
all other pests which are liable to be introduced be kept 
out through this inspection. 

I also wish to recommend that the horticultural law be 
strengthened to such a point that we will be able to quaran- 
tine other states for keeping out infested stock in a more 
direct manner. I am certain that the late controversy with 
California in regard to the alfalfa weevil shows an evi- 
dence of this need. The past two years we have kept a 
very close watch on all seedling stock for the gypsy and 
browntail moth. We have found several instances of the 
same in different parts of the state, and the stock was 
immediately destroyed, and I do not believe, at this time, 
that there are any of these pests to be found within the 
state. 

It will be shown by the following financial statement 
that this department has had funds available for its 
biennial term of 1911 and 1912 amounting to $32,060.95. 
Of this amount the state appropriated $23,600.00, and the 
balance of $8,460.95 has been taken in by the department 
in the way of fines, fees and licenses, as well as by appro- 
priations from nine counties in the state towards this work, 
and I believe that the board, as a whole, owe the different 
counties a vote of thanks for their kind and considerate 
co-operation in the inspection work. The various county 
officials, upon petitions placed before them signed by fruit 



Report of State Inspector 9 

growers of their respective counties, knowing that the 
funds of the department were limited, and realizing the 
importance of the work, took it upon themselves to assist 
us and granted the sums asked for in the petitions. With- 
out this assistance from the various counties the work 
could not have been carried on. 

During the past two years we have issued 150 firm 
licenses, and we have somewhere near 500 nursery agents 
in the state. 

In closing I wish to make this recommendation — in the 
past two years the acreage in Idaho planted to fruit has 
doubled, and with each coming year more and greater 
demands will be made upon this department to assist in 
the horticultural work, and funds must be available to 
carry it on. As has been shown by the financial report we 
have had approximately $32,000.00 for this work. While 
I consider that we have made a showing with this amount 
of money, still at the same time it is not nearly enough 
to carry on the work as it should be. The deputy 
inspectors throughout the state have not been able to make 
a living from the salaries paid them for their work, and 
it is impossible to expect to keep men who are able and 
competent to do this work if they cannot be paid for their 
services, and I wish to recommend at this time that the 
salary of each deputy in the state be placed at the rate 
of $100.00 per month, when actually employed in the 
discharge of duties, and allow them $2.50 per day for 
actual expenses. In this way competent men can be 
secured and kept for this work, while under the present 
conditions there is nothing sure as to the length of time 
they are to work and the pay they are to receive. The 
state of Idaho is, at this time, the third in number of acres 
planted to orchard in the northwest, and is fourth in the 
number of cars shipped, and our fruit crop this last year 
of 1912 is valued at $3,000,000. 

Fruit growing is one of the leading industries of the 
state while on the other hand there is less money appro- 
priated for the inspection work of this state than in any 
other state of the northwest, and a great many states, 



10 state Boay'd of Horticultural Insio^ction 

which have a much smaller acreage, and Avhere the 
number of cars of fruit shipped does not amount to half 
as many as the cars shipped from Idaho, are receiving 
more for inspection work in one year than Idaho receives 
for two years. 

I wish to thank the members of the horticultural board 
for the many kindnesses which they have shown me during 
my term as state inspector, and the honest co-operation and 
backing in strict enforcement of the law. 

I hope that your honorable body will approve of the 
work of the past two years and the recommendations which 
I have offered, all of which I respectfully submit to your 
honorable body. 

J. U. Mcpherson, 

State Horticulturol Inspector. 



FINANCIAL REPORT OF SECRETARY. 



Boise, Idaho, December 1, 1912. 
The Board of Horticultural Inspection, Boise, Idaho. 

Gentlemen — I herewith submit my report covering dis- 
bursements of the funds of the Board from January 1, 
1911, to December 1, 1912. This report includes the 
salary of the state inspector, traveling and office expenses, 
as well as the per diem of the deputy inspectors; also 
the expenses of the Board while attending meetings: 

1911— 

John U. McPherson, state inspector, salary $ 1,725.00 

John U. McPherson, state inspector, expenses 

stamps, etc., 942.80 

General office expense, including stenographer .. 1,158.27 
Printing bulletins 167.50 

C. P. Hartley, Pres. Board, attending meetings 72.50 

J. R. Field, salary one month as state insp. 150.00 

M. B. Sherman, board member, expense at- 
tending meetings -. 51.75 

Robt. Schleicher, board member, expense at- 
tending meetings --- 90.50 

O. F. Smith, board member, expense at- 
tending meetings 60.00 

Wm. Buckley, insp. Dist. No. 1 574.00 

Samuel Mayne, asst. insp. Dist. No. 1 32.00 

W. C. Edmundson, insp. Dist. No. 2 435.00 

G. E. Ames, insp Dist. No. 3 565.00 

D. A. Smith, asst. insp. Dist. No. 3 - - 7.50 

H. T. Murray, insp. Dist. No. 4 501.00 

H. M. Williams, asst. insp Dist. No. 4 20.00 

T. W. Hanan, asst. insp. Dist. No. 4 11.00 

J. S. Hogue, asst insp. Dist. No. 4 8.00 

A. J. Stuart, asst. insp. Dist. No. 4 10.00 

F. L. Featherston, inspector District No. 5 100.54 



12 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

D. B. Webber, inspector District No. 5 622.00 

A. R. Ingalls, inspector District No. 6 137.50 

L. E. Newcomb, inspector District No. 6 1.007.43 

Thos. Hance, assistant inspector District No. 6 164.00 

A. B. Kern, assistant inspector District No. 6-- 64.00 
J. Bradfield, assistant inspector District No. 6.. 60.00 

Robt. Hyslop, inspector District No. 7 80.00 

Edgar Meek, assistant inspector District No. 7 20.00 

Edgar Meek, inspector District No. 7 736.00 

Harry Meek, assistant inspector District No. 7 100.00 

G. J. Taylor, inspector District No. 8 405.00 

B. E. Rayburn, assistant inspector District No. 8 132.00 

B. E. Raybuiii; inspector District No. 8 880.00 

H. P. Ashby, assistant inspector District No. 8... . 379.00 

C. W. Brannan, inspector District No. 9 1,098.35 

B. F. Flesher, assistant inspector District No. 9 33.20 

C. B. Dull, assistant inspector District No. 9.— 24.50 
Carl Walters, assistant inspector District No. 9 26.25 
Tage Carlson, assistant inspector District No, 9 69.90 

John Adams, inspector District No. 10 120.00 

Wm. Morgan, inspector District No. 11 200.00 

J. G. Nelson, inspector District No. 12 415.00 

W. T. Hawkey, inspector District No. 13 612.00 

R. E. Harris, assistant inspector District No. 13 12.00 

K. Parkinson, assistant inspector District No. 13 17.60 

Homer Chaffee, inspector District No. 14 285.00 

H. Ostrander, asst. inspector District No. 14 .... 16.00 

Total $14,399.09 

1912— 

John U. McPherson, state inspector, salary $ 2,375.00 

John U. McPherson, exp. traveling, stamps, etc... 1,217.00 

General office expense, including stenographer .... 1,467.25 

Printing bulletins, etc., 93.00 

J. R. Field, board member 6.35 

Robert Schleicher, board member 39.45 

John D. C. Kniger, board member 72.14 

Wm. Buckley, inspector District No. 1 440.00 

W. F. Scott, assistant inspector District No. 1 30.35 



Financial Report of Secretary 13 

Samuel Mayne, assistant inspector District No. 1 54.75 

W. C. Edmundson, inspector District No. 2 595.00 

W. M. Herman, assistant inspector District No. 2 5.00 

G. E. Ames, inspector District No. 3 602.50 

0. G. Ogsbury, assistant inspector District No. 3 2.40 

A. N. Sager, assistant inspector District No. 3-..- 3.40 

Henry T. Murray, inspector District No. 4 476.00 

John A. Powell, inspector District No. 4 102.00 

T. W. Hanan, assistant inspector District No. 4.. 48.00 

J. S. Hogue, assistant inspector District No. 4..-. 42.50 

A. J. Stuart, assistant inspector District No. 4—. 50.95 

H. C. Oliver, assistant inspector District No. 4.... 6.13 

F. T. Moore, assistant inspector District No. 4.... 11.50 

D. B. Webber, inspector District No. 5 787.50 

L. E. Newcomb, inspector District No. 6 210.00 

A. B. Kern, inspector District No. 6 920.00 

James Kinzer, assistant inspector District No. 6 75.00 

J. Bradfield, assistant inspector District No. 6 .... 42.00 

Edgar Meek, inspector District No. 7 -. 795.25 

C. L. Park, assistant inspector District No. 7 .... 122.50 

J. D. Bloomfield, asst. inspector District No. 7 129.55 

H. P. Ashby, inspector District No. 8 1,057.40 

F. L. Rickey, assistant inspector District No. 8 44.20 

B. E. Rayburn, assistant inspector District No. 8 25.00 
W. M. Funstan, assistant inspector District No. 8 68.00 
George Fenton, assistant inspector District No. 8 151.45 

C. W. Brannan, inspector District No. 9 -.. 748.60 

A. J. Milner, assistant inspector District No. 9 75.50 

C. B. Dull, assistant inspector District No. 9 114.30 

Robt. Simpson, asst. inspector Distdict No. 9 .... 14.00 

A. P. Senior, assistant inspector District No. 9 91.00 

B. F. Flesher, assistant inspector District No. 9 18.50 

A. J. Mye, assistant inspector District No. 9 17.80 

B. F. Hays, assistant inspector District No. 9 9.00 

John Adams, inspector District No. 10 110.00 

T. J. Evans, inspector District No. 11 451.00 

R. H. Christensen, asst. inspector Dist. No. 11 .... 43.95 

P. A. Hanson, assistant inspector District No. 11 28.00 

John Norton, inspector District No. 12 424.00 

W. T. Hawkey, inspector District No. 13 258.00 



14 State Board of Ho7'ticultural Inspection 

H. T. Brengman, inspector District No. 13 563.94 

H. E. Fisher, assistant inspector District No. 13 12.00 

I. C. Smith, assistant inspector District No. 13.... 55.75 

K. Parkinson, assistant inspector District No. 13 33.00 

Homer Chaffee, inspector District No. 14 250.00 

Total $15,486.86 

Total expenditures, 1911 ...$14,399.09 

Total expenditures, 1912 to Dec. 1 15,486.86 

Total from Hort. fund, biennial term.. 29,885.95 

Funds as appropriated by state 23,600.00 

Hort. insp. fund, fees, fines, licenses.. 4,979.09 
Hort. and Bee fund, 1911 and 1912... 1,306.86 

Appropriated by counties, 1911 600.00 

Appropriated by counties, 1912 1,575.00 

County Claims, 1911 600.00 

County claims, 1912, to Dec. 1 785.85 

Balance, county funds, 1912 789.15 



$32,060.95 $32,060.95 

Respectfully submitted, 

John U. McPherson, 

Secretary State Board Hort. Insp. 



REPORT OF STATE BEE INSPECTOR. 



Hon. James H. Hawley, 

Governor of Idaho, Boise, Idaho. 

My Dear Governor — According to law the work of the 
State Bee Inspection is handled through the Horticultur£il 
Department, and the State Horticultural Inspector is ex- 
officio State Bee Inspector. 

There are some 25 deputy bee inspectors in the state, 
some of whom work for what might be termed the good of 
the state, as the funds for this work have been very 
limited and some of the inspectors, knowing this, have 
asked to be appointed merely as a matter of protection to 
their neighborhood, or in some cases, their own bees. 

There is a great deal of foul brood in some localities 
in the state, and in one place an inspector reported that a 
bee keeper's colonies had been reduced from 145 to 30 
because of the infection. The inspectors in all cases 
report that the diseased bees were destroyed, or treated, 
as the cases required. Another inspector reported that he 
found several cases of European or Black Brood in bees 
that were being shipped into Idaho. Still another reported 
that he had destroyed 55 stands and another that all the 
shipments that he inspected were absolutely clean. 

It is very evident that the work of the state bee 
inspection should be placed in the hands of a man who has 
time to look after the work, and that it should be taken 
from the horticultural department, which has enough to do 
in the fruit line. The bee industry in the state has come 
to be a very important one, and the annual output of 
honey amounts to a great many thousands of dollars, and 
the many bee keepers are entitled to more protection 
than they have had in the past two years. They should 
have a department of their own and a state bee inspector 
whose only duties would be to look after the bee industry. 



16 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

It is utterly impossible for the horticultural department 
to carry on this work as it should be done on account of 
the horticultural interests. I recommend that the work 
of bee inspection be placed by itself, and maintained as 
before stated. In closing I wish to thank the bee keepers 
and the deputies for their work under the adverse con- 
ditions of the past two years and to assure them of my 
co-operation in every way for the betterment and advance- 
ment of the bee industry. 

The bee inspection work has been allowed $2,000 for 
the two years of inspection and, December 1, of this 
amount, $1,346.45 had been used. 

Respectfully submitted, 

J. U. Mcpherson, 

State Bee Inspector. 



Ma.niiol of TInr1 iciiltiire, Tdahn. 



FT. ATE IT. 





BARTLETT PEAR 



CHAPTER I. 

THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF IDAHO. 
BY J. M. ALDRICH. 

The State of Idaho lies entirely on the western side of 
the watershed of the Rocky Mountains, and with the ex- 
ception of a small area in the southeastern part, which 
lies in the Great Salt Lake Basin, is entirely drained by 
the Columbia River and its branches, principally by the 
Snake River. The main mountain system of the state 
lies along its northeast border, comprising the Bitter 
Root and a part of the Rocky Mountain chains, which 
give off several branches extending westward and south- 
westward into the central part of the state. The Salmon 
River, rising near the eastern boundary of the state and 
flowing nearly due west, lies between two extensive moun- 
tainous regions. The Salmon River Mountains on its 
south are among the highest in the state, and they extend 
in a southeastern direction, merging with the Sawtooth 
range, which are still higher and comprise the highest 
peaks in Idaho. These ranges contain the sources of 
several of the important irrigating streams of the state. 
East of them are several parallel ranges between which 
flow Lost River, Little Lost River and some other streams. 
Along the east line of the state is an elevated region with 
several small ranges of mountains, which also run to the 
southeast. Along the south line of the State are two or 
three still smaller ranges. 

The most extensive agricultural region of the state is 
the Snake River Plain of southern Idaho, which extends 
almost the entire width of the state. Within the limits 
of the Great Salt Lake Basin, in the southern part of 
Idaho, there is a section of comparatively small area, of 
valuable agricultural land. In the northern part of the 
state the agricultural land lies mostly rather near to the 
western border. 

From an agricultural or horticultural point of view the 



18 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

climate and soil are the principal features of importance. 
These, however, are directly dependent upon the altitude 
and other physical features which will be considered in the 
present chapter. 

ALTITUDE. 

The northern part of Idaho, as a whole, has much lower 
altitude than the southern part, and the southeastern part 
is highest of all. In southern Idaho the line of 5,000 feet 
elevation shows very nearly the limit of agricultural possi- 
bilities, as the climate at a higher altitude is generally 
too cold for successful agriculture and the land usually 
too rough for tillage. In northern Idaho the limit might 
well be drawn at a lower level, say 3,000 feet. For agricul- 
tural purposes little of this land is available, and for horti- 
cultural purposes, still less. The only exceptions of import- 
ance are the following: In Bear Lake county, which is en- 
tirely above the 5,000 foot level, considerable agriculture is 
carried on in the vicinity of the lake and a little fruit is 
raised. Another exception is northeast of St. Anthony 
where alfalfa is raised for a few miles above the limit. 
In the vicinity of Bellevue and Hailey there is some agri- 
culture and some fruit raising. 

GEOLOGICAL HISTORY. 

Many of the features of the different arable regions 
of Idaho can be best understood by a brief explanation of 
the geological formation which characterizes them. All 
the tillable land in Idaho which lies within the Salt Lake 
Basin was at one time under the waters of a vast fresh 
water lake, of which the present Great Salt Lake is only 
a disappearing remnant. This lake had its outlet in a 
stream which flowed along a channel at present existing, 
through Pocatello, into the Snake River. From some 
cause, probably a decrease of rainfall in the regions sur- 
rounding the lake, this outlet in the course of time went 
dry and the lake began to diminish in size, gradually 
becoming more and more filled up with salt until it 



Geological History of Idaho 19 

reached its present condition. That portion of the old 
^ed in the, state of Idaho consists partly of almost level 
bottom land, and partly of a slope situated much higher 
along the foot of the mountains. These two are connected 
by a much steeper slope which can scarcely be plowed. 
The upper slope referred to was originally just below the 
shore of the lake, in shallow water. It is distinguished 
at the present time as being a region adapted to dry 
farming, while the lower level requires irrigation. 

In the Snake River Valley there are two quite distinct 
foraiations. From Weiser up to the eastern limit of Ada 
county, and extending still farther east on the south 
side of the Snake River, is a region which is also the 
ancient bed of an extensive lake. The shore line of this 
lake cannot be positively traced along the edge of the 
mountains as can the one just referred to. How far 
east it originally extended is unknown. The soil is largely 
of an alluvial character. It is supposed that this lake 
was caused by the damming up of the outlet, probably at 
the time when the Blue Mountains of Oregon were 
elevated to their present position. This turned back the 
waters of the Snake River for a period of time, producing 
a lake in the area described. Ultimately the rise of the 
waters carried them over the top of the elevation which 
nature had placed in their way and after this they 
rapidly wore down a channel through the mountains, 
thus draining the lake which had been formed. The 
eastern boundary of this lake will forever remain uncer- 
tain from the fact that the entire area east of Ada county 
was subsequently the scene of numerous eruptions resulting 
in an outflow of lava which spread in the form of layers 
of basalt over the central and eastern Snake River Plain 
almost as far east as the state line. There were several 
distinct periods of eruption with intervals between, per- 
haps centuries long, in which shallow layers of soil 
accumulated. In some parts of this region these eruptions 
continued until quite recent times, giving to the section 
west of Blackfoot and Idaho Falls its present character 
of a rocky desert, which is due to the fact that sufficient 



20 State Board of Hot^ticultural Inspection 

time has not elapsed since the last outflow to permit of the 
formation of a depth of soil over its surface. Much of the 
Snake River Plain, however, has now become so old that 
an abundance of soil exists and in fact some of the 
choicest land to be found anywhere is in this very section. 
Turning to North Idaho we find two chapters of equal 
interest. The region of Latah and Nez Perce counties 
was the scene of volcanic outflows at an even earlier time 
than those of South Idaho, and to a greater depth. The 
sheet of basalt at Lewiston is more than 1,100 feet deep, 
and Lewiston has an altitude of 1,600 feet less than that 
of Latah county, which would indicate that the latter is 
underlaid at least along its southern border by a depth of 
something like 2,500 feet of volcanic material. Lastly, 
the soils of Kootenai county as far south as the north end 
of Cceur d'Alene lake were deposited at a much later date, 
namely, in the glacial period. Then immense glaciers 
filled those valleys and when they thawed they left them 
filled to a depth of hundreds of feet with the rocks and 
other material which they had borne upon their surface 
in their advance southward. The disintegration of the 
surface of this mass gradually formed a soil which, by 
the addition of humus and further disintegration ulti- 
mately developed into one well adapted to horticulture. 



CHAPTER II. 
THE PHYSICAL FEATURES OF IDAHO. 

BY ELIAS NELSON. 

Sagebrush plains, high, snow-capped mountains and 
timbered plateaus are some of the salient features of the 
state. In climate it presents all gradations from the high 
altitudes and short seasons of Wyoming to the mild cli- 
mate of the Columbia river uplands. The far eastern por- 
tion of the state approximates the climatic conditions of 
the central Rocky mountain states. The Snake river 
plains extend nearly across southern Idaho as a rudely 
crescent-shaped area concave to the north. This is an 
arid region with a gradually decreasing altitude westward 
and a climate more hospitable to fruits as the western 
border is approached. It is a vast agricultural region with 
several million acres of irrigated lands. 

The southern border is more or less mountainous. The 
southeast portion contains a number of short mountain 
ranges and the agricultural lands here are mostly above 
4,500 feet altitude. In the southwest corner lie the 
Owyhee mountains and their lateral spurs and foothills 
extend almost to the Snake river. 

To the north of the Snake river plains and throughout 
central Idaho from the continental divide on the east to 
the Snake river on the west are extensive mountain areas 
where high altitudes obtain. 

The northern part of the state is distinctly humid and 
more or less covered with extensive forests. Large areas 
of fine agricultural lands are found here. The altitude is 
relatively low and though 350 miles north of the Snake 
river plains the climate is comparatively mild. 

Practically the whole of the state is drained by the 
Snake river and other tributaries of the Columbia. The 
Snake river rising in the Yellowstone park describes a 



22 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

wide curve to Weiser on the western border and thence 
flows in a northerly direction to Lewiston. This great 
stream and certain tributaries furnish water for nearly 
all the irrigation projects in southern Idaho. 

Over the southern or arid portion of the state the 
annual precipitation ranges from 9 to 15 inches and 
irrigation is a general practice. In the "Panhandle" or 
humid section there is an annual precipitation of from 
15 to 25 inches. Here irrigation is not a distinct neces- 
sity. 

Differences in altitude and climatic conditions naturally 
divide the state horticulturally into several distinct regions. 

PAYETTE-BOISE REGION. 

We would thus designate the lower Snake river plains 
and include nearly all of Canyon and Ada counties and 
portions of Elmore, Owyhee and Washington counties. 
This is the oldest as well as the foremost of the horticul- 
tural sections of the state. The common sagebrush is the 
predominant vegetation on these plains. There is but 
little grass and the soil is nearly bare, hence the soil is 
lacking in humus and nitrogen, a deficiency which is 
readily corrected by the culture of the legumes. The 
prevailing type of soil on these plains is a light-colored 
clay loam with more or less pure clay in the subsoil. This 
soil though somewhat stubborn at first becomes highly 
productive when thoroughly subdued. 

The annual precipitation ranges from 10 to 14 inches. 
The altitude is from 2,100 to 2,700 feet. 

The horticultural possibilities are varied and the mild 
climate imposes but few limitations. It should be noted, 
however, that but few of the more hardy European grapes 
succeed; also, that conditions favor the production of a 
prune of exceptional quality. In the apple line it is a 
region for the Jonathan, Rome Beauty and Winesap which 
are the leaders. 

TWIN FALLS REGION. 

The region comprising the plains on either side of the 



Physical Features of Idaho 23 

Snake river from Bliss to American Falls has much in 
common with the lower Snake river plains. The native 
vegetation is the same, the altitude greater, or 3,000-4,500 
feet, and the rainfall a trifle less. 

The soil on these plains is a clay loam of seolian origin. 
This dust deposit laid down by the wind is deep, fine, and 
generally homogeneous throughout. This is the prevailing 
type of soil in this region. 

This is a region of vast and extensive irrigation im- 
provements during the past eight years. Horticulturally 
its development has just begun, hence the limitations as to 
varieties and classes of fruits cannot be so well defined. 
However, owing to the greater altitude and less summer 
heat commercial orcharding must here naturally be less 
varied than in the Boise and Payette valleys. 

UPPER SNAKE RIVER VALLEY. 

The upper Snake river valley in Bingham and Fremont 
counties has an altitude of 4,500-5,500 feet. On account of 
the high altitude, relatively short season and somewhat 
rigorous climate fruit culture is chiefly confined to hardy 
fruits such as pears, sour cherries, American plums and 
quite a varied list of apples. Certain varieties of apples, 
among them the Winesap, while hardy enough, do not 
attain sufficient size in this region to be grown com- 
mercially. 

FOOT-HILLS REGION. 

Under this head may be mentioned certain foothill) 
locations in Washington and Ada counties at altitudes 
ranging from 2,900 to 3,400 feet where fruit growing is 
rather more successful than at similar altitudes on the 
Snake river plains. Such locations are Council Valley, 
Indian Valley and the country about Sweet, as well as 
other similar localities. The sagebrush so common on the 
plains here gives place to buckbrush (Purshia), wild 
cherry, serviceberry and rabbitbrush. The soils are gen- 
erally either alluvial or residual and a common type is a 
clay loam with an admixture of coarse sand. The annual 



24 State Board of Hoy^ticultural Inspection 

precipitation is 12-15 inches, hence irrigation is necessary 
except where the land is sub-irrigated. The chief com- 
mercial fruits here are apples, pears and peaches. 

SNAKE RIVER CANYON. 

The Snake river canyon from near Weiser to Lewiston 
has a climate all its own. Higher temperatures obtain 
here and at Lewiston the low altitude of 757 feet is 
reached. At Lewiston and in many sheltered coves along 
the canyon the European grapes flourish and sweet cher- 
ries and peaches find conditions congenial to perfect de- 
velopment. These canyon locations with their light soils 
requiring irrigation are well suited to the culture of the 
less hardy fruits. 

THE "panhandle" OR HUMID REGION. 

This region is more or less heavily timbered with white 
and yellow pine and red fir. Tamarack, alder, birch and 
willows occur on the moister lands and in some localities 
cedar is found. The wild cherry, serviceberry, wild roses, 
syringia and wolfberry abound in the forests and on the 
partially open lands. 

The soil on the rolling hills and table lands of Latah 
county is of basaltic origin while that on the plateaus and 
gravelly plains of Kootenai and Bonner counties has been 
formed in ages past by the disintegration of glacial drifts. 

From 18 to 25 inches of precipitation falls annually, 
which amount is sufficient for successful orcharding with- 
out irrigation. The altitude is 1,200-2,500 feet which is 
low as compared with that of the agricultural sections of 
southern Idaho. 

Owing to greater humidity, apple scab which is scarcely 
known in southern Idaho is quite prevalent here. Not 
much is made of the prune here and the Winesap apple 
is not one of the leading commercial sorts, its place with 
the Jonathan and Rome Beauty being taken by the 
Wagener. 



Manual of Horticulture, Idaho. 



PLATE III. 




MAP OF IDAHO 

Showing Normal Annual Precipitation 

based on the 
Records of the U. S. Weather Bureau 



SCALE OF SHADES: (Inchea) 

1 iLess than 10 inches 

10 to 1,5 Inches 
15 to 20 inches 
20 to 25 Inches 
More than 25 Inches 



CHAPTER III. 

THE CLIMATE OF IDAHO. 

Edward L. Wells. 
Section Director, U. S. Weather Bureau. 

Idaho is a state of vast extent and wide diversity of 
topography. It extends from the 42nd to the 49th parallel 
of latitude, or as far as from Ontario to Georgia; Paris, 
in Bear Lake county, and Porthill, in Bonner county, are 
as far apart as Wichita, Kansas and Vicksburg, Mississ- 
ippi. The altitude ranges from that of central and 
northern Indiana to more than five thousand feet above 
the highest peaks of the Appalachian system. Along a 
portion of its eastern border lie the Cabinet, Coeur 
d'Alene, Bitter Root and Beaverhead ranges of mountains, 
and a section of the main range of the Rockies, while 
extending out from these, and lying in every conceiv- 
able direction are countless other ranges. The only 
large area of level land is that which comprises the Snake 
River Plain, which extends practically across southern 
Idaho. 

The entire state comes under the modifying influence 
of the equable climate of the north Pacific Ocean, and is 
protected, to a large extent, from the severe cold waves 
which prevail east of the great mountain barrier, while 
in many places Chinook winds play an important part in 
determining the temperature. The northern part of the 
state is well within the path of the areas of low baro- 
metric pressure that move in from the north Pacific 
and pass eastward across the country, while the southern 
part lies well out of that path. 

These complex factors go to make such a wide diver- 
sity of climate that description is extremely difficult and 
accurate graphic representation impossible. The normal 
annual temperature ranges from about 36 degrees in the 



26 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

mountains in the interior to about 55 degrees along the 
middle reaches of the Snake River. This is a range equal 
to that found in traveling from Moorhead, Minnesota to 
Fredericksburg, Virginia. The normal annual precipita- 
tion ranges from about eight inches along the middle 
reaches of the Snake River to about 40 inches in the 
Bitter Root mountains. This is a range greater than that 
found in going from Albany, New York to Phoenix, 
Arizona. 

Over large areas there is a long growing season and 
a climate well adapted to the growing of fruit, and there 
are localities where even tender fruits, such as European 
grapes, are grown successfully, and such nuts as the 
English walnut promise good returns. On the other 
hand, in some of the more elevated sections, freezing 
weather may occur every month in the year. There are 
several counties where in one end snow sometimes re- 
mains throughout the summer, while in the other, snow 
enough for sleighing is a rare occurrence. 

TEMPERATURE. 

As has already been said, it is impossible to make an 
accurate graphic representation of any feature of Idaho 
climate, hence in considering the accompanying charts it 
should be remembered that they give only a general idea 
of the distribution of temperature and precipitation but 
do not portray local conditions. 

By comparing the accompanying chart of mean annual 
isotherms with a topographic map of the state it will be 
seen that there is a very noticeable relation between alti- 
tude and temperature, although this relation is not con- 
stant. The coldest part of the state, comprising the 
area enclosed by the isotherm of 36, includes a small 
section in the sparsely settled mountainous regions in the 
interior. What is said of this area applies, in part at least, 
to the higher peaks of the Bitter Root, Beaverhead, 
Seven Devils and Owyhee Mountains. In these sections 
the climate is characterized by cold, snowy winters and 
short, cool summers. The snow accumulates to great 



Climate of Idaho 27 

depths in winter and sometimes remains in sheltered 
places throughout the summer. There are occasional 
warm periods in mid-day in summer, but the summer 
evenings are uniformly cool enough to make a fire enjoy- 
able, while frost may occur in mid-summer. 

Somewhat warmer than the mountainous regions are 
the extensive plateaus and high valleys that make up a 
considerable part of the central and extreme eastern 
portions of the state. On these plateaus and in these 
valleys the winters are cold and the summers are short, 
but still long enough to permit a good growth of grasses 
and ordinarily of sufficient length to enable the staple 
grains to come to maturity. The normal annual tem- 
perature in this section ranges from 40 degrees to 43 
degrees, comparing closely with that found in northern 
Wisconsin. 

The great Snake River Plain of southern Idaho, to- 
gether with the lower valleys of the streams that join 
the Snake during its course through this Plain, includes 
what will soon be the greatest irrigated area in the world. 
The eastern part of this Plain, together with portions of 
the country draining into Great Salt Lake, have a 
climate characterized by moderately cool winters and 
moderately warm summers. The normal annual tem- 
perature of this section ranges from 43 degrees to 47 
degrees, which is about the temperature found in southern 
Minnesota. Here the staple grains, grasses and vegetables 
find a temperature ideally suited to their needs while in 
many places the hardy fruits grow to perfection. 

The western part of this Plain, together with the lower 
valleys of such streams as the Big Wood, Boise, Payette, 
Weiser and Bruneau, have a climate characterized by 
mild winters and by summers that include some hot 
days, but in which the nights are ordinarily cool and 
pleasant. The normal annual temperature ranges from 
47 degrees to 55 degrees, and compares closely with the 
temperature found in Missouri and southern Iowa. In 
this area there is found a combination of climatic con- 
ditions that is highly favorable for the production of 
apples, prunes, pears, cherries and melons, while in some 



28 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

localities peaches, European grapes and English walnuts 
are successfully grown. There is seldom any damage from 
winter-killing, and the abundant sunshine during the 
growing and ripening season, with the crisp, cool morn- 
ings of the autumn, combine to produce the finest colored 
fruits the world has seen. 

The northern part of the state, outside of the moun- 
tains, consists largely of rolling hills, and has a normal 
annual temperature ranging from 44 degrees to 53 de- 
grees, which is about the temperature found in Pennsyl- 
vania. Its climate is well adapted to the growing of grain 
and the hardy fruits, and some of the lower valleys, 
notably in the vicinity of Lewiston, produce abundant 
crops of the tender fruits. That the climate is adapted to 
the growing of berries is evidenced by the fact that many 
species are found in a wild state. It is believed that the 
marshes along the Kootenai and St. Joe rivers would 
produce cranberries. 

In comparing the temperature of any section of Idaho 
with that of an eastern state it should be remembered 
that in Idaho there is less difference between summer and 
winter and a greater difference between day and night 
than is found east of the Rocky Mountains. 

In discussing climate from the viewpoint of the horti- 
culturist it is important to consider the probability of 
the occurrence of low temperature at times when the 
fruit is susceptible to injury therefrom. Fall frosts 
are scarcely a factor to be reckoned with in the fruit- 
growing regions in Idaho, as ordinarily fruit is mature 
before they occur. But the occurrence of freezing tem- 
perature during the period of blossoming and setting is 
one of the problems to be faced. 

A killing frost is one that is destructive to the staple 
crops of the locality. Just how low the temperature must 
fall to cause injury to the tender bud, the open flower or 
the embryo fruit is a question upon which scientists and 
practical orchardists are alike divided, and is one that 
depends upon so many factors, such as the condition of 
the tree, the exact state of the advancement of the 
fruit, the length of time during which it is exposed to the 



Climate of Idaho 29 

temperature in question and the conditions under which 
thawing takes place, that it may not soon be answered 
satisfactorily. In the absence of sufficient data with 
regard to the effects of spring frosts it is often necessary 
for the Weather Bureau to take the last date with 
freezing temperature and call that the date of the last 
killing frost. Fruits, at least except at the most critical 
times, will stand a temperature considerably below the 
freezing point without serious injury. This fact should 
always be borne in mind when considering tables of 
killing frost, such as the one accompanying this article. 

The problem of preventing injury from frost is being 
carefully studied by the fruit growers of the state, with 
such assistance from the Weather Bureau as the limited 
funds at its disposal will permit. Four things are particu- 
larly needed. First, accurate foreknowledge of the occur- 
rence of injurious temperatures; Second, a scientific in- 
vestigation of the effect of various temperatures at differ- 
ent stages of the fruit; Third, a scientific investigation of 
the merits of different protective methods; Fourth, an 
accurate temperature survey of every valley in the state 
that gives promise of producing fruit. Careful plans 
are being made to meet the first need. A frost warning- 
service is being organized which, with proper co-operation 
on the part of the growers and telephone companies, will 
be of great value. An attempt toward meeting the 
fourth need has been made by the establishment of 
numerous observation stations throughout the state, but 
the small number of stations that can be established 
and maintained under the present appropriation leaves 
much to be desired. At present nothing can be done 
to meet the second and third needs, but it is understood 
that plans are being made to cover this field. 

In short, while the occurrence of spring frosts fur- 
nishes the greatest climatic obstacle to the progress of 
horticulture in Idaho, it is by no means an unsurmountable 
one. Several peculiarities of the climate of the south- 
western valleys are especially favorable for orchard heat- 
ing. One of these is the fact that the spring frosts are 
largely the result of surface radiation, and therefore occur 



30 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

only on still, clear nights, when conditions for orchard 
heating are favorable. When there is either wind or 
cloudiness frost does not occur. Then, too, the temper- 
ature seldom goes more than a few degrees below the 
danger point, and does not reach that point till well 
toward morning, so that the period of injurious tem- 
perature is short. 

PRECIPITATION. 

The local variations in precipitation are greater and 
more complex than the variations in temperature. In the 
preparation of the accompanying chart showing the mean 
annual precipitation all available records have been con- 
sidered, and in the more open portions of the state the 
actual local conditions are probably very nearly as repre- 
sented by the chart. In the mountanous regions, however, 
there are probably many localities where the precipitation is 
greater or less than the amount indicated by the chart 
of the general district. 

The geographical distribution of precipitation is gov- 
erned, to a large extent, by altitude, but, as has already 
been said, it is by no means constant. For instance. 
Soldier, in Blaine county, and Landore, in Washington 
county, have about the same altitude. Soldier has an 
annual precipitation of about 15 inches, while the amount 
at Landore is about 38 inches. In general it may be 
said that the precipitation is greatest in the mountainous 
regions and least on the open plains. The wettest re- 
gions includes the Coeur d'Alene and Bitter Root moun- 
tains, while portions of the Seven Devils are almost as 
wet. The dryest portion is along the Snake River in 
the southwestern portion of the state, while parts of the 
region of lost rivers and the immediate valley of the 
Salmon river are very dry, when elevation is considered. 
The rolling lands and lands in the foothills appear to have 
a greater amount of precipitation than level lands at the 
same elevation. 

In different parts of Idaho there are many different 
types of precipitation distribution. Over a considerable 



Climate of Idaho 31 

part of the state the distribution conforms in a general 
way to the Sub-Pacific type, but there are many local 
departures from this type. In the Coeur d'Alene Moun- 
tains and thence northward the maximum precipitation 
occurs in November, with a secondary maximum in May. 
South and west of this area and over a region extending 
to the southwestern part of the state the heaviest precipi- 
tation is in December or January, with a secondary max- 
imum in May. In parts of central and eastern Idaho, the 
principal maximum is in May or June, with the secondary 
maximum ranging from November to March. The driest 
part of the year over most of the state is July or 
August. From this it will be seen that in those parts of 
the state where the temperature conditions are most 
favorable for the production of fruit there is a very light 
rainfall in the summer and therefore, the various opera- 
tions of cultivating, spraying, etc., are not likely to be 
interferred with. 

The winter precipitation usually occurs in small 
amounts, at frequent intervals. What precipitation occurs 
in summer comes in showers, but the intensity of the rain- 
fall is much less than is found in the state farther south 
in the intermountain region, and cloud-bursts, so-called, 
are a rare occurrence. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Thunderstorms sometimes occur, but they are usually 
light and of short duration. Loss of life or property 
from lightning occurs very rarely. Tornadoes are practi- 
cally unknown. The average hourly wind movement at 
Boise and Lewiston is about five and one-half miles, while 
at Pocatello and Idaho Falls it is about eight and one- 
half miles. 

There is considerable cloudiness in winter, particularly 
in the western counties, but in summer there is an abun- 
dance of sunshine. The average amount of sunshine at 
Pocatello ranges from about 44 per cent of the possible 
amount in February to 86 per cent in August. At Boise 
it ranges from about 33 per cent in January to 87 per cent 



32 



State Board of Horticultural Inspection 



in July. No sunshine records have been kept in northern 
Idaho, but the record at Spokane, Wash., shows that the 
amount in that section ranges from about 18 per cent 
in December to 77 per cent in July. 

In this article it has been possible to treat of the 
climate of Idaho only in a general way. Persons desiring 
more explicit information are invited to address the local 
ojffice of the Weather Bureau at Boise. 
results so lur .... „ _, . 



Table Showing Dates of Killing Frosts at Various Points in Idaho. 



Name of 
Station 



American Falls . 

Blackfoot 

Boise 

Bonners Perry . 

Cambridge 

Drigars 

Grangeville 

Hailey 

Idaho City 

Idalio Palls 

Kellogg — 

Lewiston 

Mackay 

Meadows 

Moscow 

Mountainhome . 

Oakley 

Oro Pino 

Paris - 

Payette 

Pocatello 

Salmon 

Shoshone 

Sugar 

Twin Palls 

Weston 



Average 
date of 
last killing 
frost in 
spring. 



May 24 . 
May 30 . 
April 25 
May 9 ... 
May 20 . 
June 21 
May 13 
June 6 . 
June 27 
May 21 , 
May 16 
April 8 
Mav 28 . 
June 18 
May 10 
May 4 .. 
May 30 
May 2 .. 
June 14 
May 8 .. 
April 24 
May 16 
May 5 .. 
May 28 
May 16 
June 1 



Average 
date of 
earliest 
killing 
frost in 
fall 



Sept. 13 
Sept. 10 
Oct. 20 
Sept. is 
Sept. 17 
Sept. 2 
Sept. 29 
Sept. 13 
Sept. 5 
Sept. 8 
Sept. 17 
Oct. 28 
Sept. 11 
Aug. 29 
Oct. 12 
Sept. 13 
Sept. 17 
Oct. 11 
Sept. 5 
Sept. 29 
Oct. 11 
Sept. 12 
Sept. 21 
Sept. 20 
Sept. 27 
Sept. 12 



Date of 
latest kill- 
ing frost 
known 



July 1 - 
July 5 . 
June 5 . 
May 26 . 
June 24 
July 13 
May 21 . 
July 15 
July 4 
June 20 
May 23 
April 29 
June 22 
June 28 
May 30 
May 21 
July 7 
June 20 
July 16 
June 23 
May 13 
June 20 
May 17 
June 28 
May 21 
June 25 



Date of 
earliest 

killing 
frost 

known 



Aug. 20 

Aug. 20 

Sept. 24 

Aug. 24 

Aug. 22 

Aug. 11 

Sept. 17 

Aug. 30 

Aug. 15 

Aug. 25 

Aug. 28 
Oct. 2 ... 

Aug. 25 

Aug. 16 

Sept. 23 

Aug. 25 

Aug. 21 

Sept. 25 

Aug. 11 

Sept. 14 

Sept. 15 

Aug. 26 

Sept. 5 . 

Aug. 25 

Sept. 5 . 

Aug. 11 



Manual of Horticulture, Idaho. 



PLATE IV. 



MAP OF IDAHO 

Showing Normal Annual Isotherms 
based on the 



V Records of the U. S. Weather Bureau 




4i- - H' 4Z° 



Climate of Idaho 



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34 



State Board of Horticultural Inspection 



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CHAPTER IV. 
NATIVE VEGETATION OF IDAHO. 

BY PROF. P. M. ALDRICH. 

This subject we shall consider only in its general fea- 
tures, with the purpose of illustrating more clearly and 
from a different point of view, the probable horticultural 
resources of the State. The experienced observer forms 
a rapid estimate of the country over which he is traveling 
by noting the lay of the land, the appearance of the soil 
and the character of the vegetation. The introductory 
chapters of this manual attempt to furnish the same sort 
of data. 

SAGEBRUSH. 

There is no more characteristic plant of the west 
than the common sagebrush (Artemisia tndentata) . Its 
presence indicates a dry and rather hot summer climate, 
with too little rainfall to mature the general run of crops 
without irrigation, except by "dry farming," methods, 
which have in recent years greatly enlarged the possibili- 
ties of this class of lands, and almost make us hesitate to 
say that any land in Idaho is incapable of raising crops 
without irrigation. The winter climate of the sagebrush 
region is in parts mild and in others rather severe. Large, 
uniform sagebrush unmixed with "rabbitbrush" or other 
shrubs of nearly its own size, is universally taken as an 
index of the finest kind of soil for an arid region. Rab- 
bitbrush (Bigelovia, lately called Chrysothamnus) in 
slight admixture is not very objectionable; more indicates 
a poorer soil. Greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) 
mixed with sagebrush indicates alkali soil. 

The sagebrush area of Idaho includes pretty much the 
whole of the south part, as far north as the middle of 
Washington county, with an area approximating half the 
entire state. 



E6 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

In this region there are a few places where the alti- 
tude rises so high as to induce more rainfall, and here the 
sage thins out and disappears. Above 5,000 feet there is 
little of the plant. 

The only tree that grows in typical arid sagebrush 
regions is the juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) , which 
occurs scatteringly on the ridges of foothills along the 
southern tier of counties, and rather abundantly south of 
the Owyhee mountains and on the lava plain northwest of 
American Falls. The fine-grained, fragrant and durable 
wood is used for fuel and fence-posts. 

FOREST. 

The forest area of the state extends over most of the 
northern and central parts, and while this vast region is 
not all densely forested, it is largely so and the more open 
spots are not extensive. The principle trees are mentioned 
below. 

Yellow Pine (Pinus ponderosa). — This has a wider 
range than any other single species of tree in the State, 
covering nearly all the timber region. 

Professor C. V. Piper, in his Flora of Washington, 
recently published by the United States National Museum, 
has given a concise account of the habits of this tree. 
He says: "This tree exhibits a marked predilection for 
soils of granitic origin, and wherever such soil is found, 
even if completely isolated, the yellow pine is quite sure 
to occur. * * * It is apparent that this tree en- 
croaches en the clayey basaltic soils with difficulty. 
Whether this is owing to the inability of the seedlings to 
struggle with the herbaceous vegetation or to a lack of 
adaptation to the soil itself, or to some other factor, 
remains to be determined. * * * From the fact 
that the yellow pine establishes itself on basaltic clay 
under favorable conditions of moisture and temperature, 
as in the Blue Mountains, or of the shading and abun- 
dant seeding that the surrounding forests provide in 
western Idaho, it is evident that the soil factor is not the 



Native Vegetation of Idaho. 87 

only one that has prevented the spread of the pine forest. 
Yellow pine forests, where pure, are open in character, 
and marked by the relatively small amount of forest 
litter. * * * (They) are, however, seldom pure, 
except at low altitudes in rather dry soil. In the moister 
situations afforded by higher altitudes, shaded slopes or 
valleys, the yellow pine is usually mixed with red fir in 
varying proportions. Indeed, as the moisture becomes 
greater, the proportion of red fir increases until it becomes 
the predominating tree." 

Professor Sargent, in his Silva of North America, pays 
the following deserved tribute to this magnificent tree: 
"Possessed of a constitution which enables it to endure 
great variations of climate and to flourish on the well- 
watered slopes of the California mountains, on torrid lava 
beds, in the dry interior valleys of the north and on the 
sun-baked mesas of the south, and to push out over the 
plains bodily where no other tree can exist, the advance 
guard of the Pacific forest, Pinus ponderosa is the most 
widely distributed tree of western North America. Ex- 
ceeded in size by the sugar pine of the Sierra Nevadas, it 
surpasses all its race in the majesty of its port and the 
splendor of its vitality; and, an emblem of strength, it 
appears as enduring as the rocks, above which it raises 
its noble shafts and stately columns." 

It remains to add that the yellow pine does not, like the 
eastern pines, flourish best on sandy, poor soil,but in Idaho 
it occupies thousands of acres of land eminently fit for 
agriculture and where not too elevated, for horticulture 
also. 

Red Fir (Pseudotsuga mucronata). — This well known 
tree has a range but little narrower than the preceding; 
as already indicated it is limited to slightly higher alti- 
tudes and moister locations than the yellow pine is capa- 
ble of occupying. It generally occurs on steep, rough 
land, mountains and their foot-hills. 

White Pine {Pinus monticola). — Commencing in the 
northern part of Idaho County and ranging across Nez 
Perce into the eastern end of Latah and the southern part 
of Shoshone; occurring again in the northern part of 



38 State Board ^of Horticultural Inspection 

Kootenai about Priest Lake. This tree occupies a much 
smaller range than either of the preceding, but forms 
dense tracts of now mature timber of high quality; it is 
therefore much sought by lumbermen. It is limited in its 
distribution to areas of much moisture, which may or may 
not be too rough for agriculture. 

There are several other important forest trees in the 
State, which need not be mentioned for our present pur- 
pose. 

BUNCH-GRASS PRAIRIE. 

This heading might need a little explanation, as this 
land has been under cultivation so completely and so 
long that little trace of bunch grass remains, and the occu- 
pants would not know their own farms under this appella- 
tion. It is a region along the western side of the state, north 
of the middle, of small area, corresponding very nearly with 
the Columbia River Lava of our geological map. It is the 
principal non-irrigated farming area of the state at the pres- 
ent time and is almost wholly under plow. It is really the up- 
per edge of a tract that lies mostly in the state of Washing- 
ton, and extends westward in gradually lessening altitude 
and rainfall toward the Columbia river. It is closely bordered 
on the east by timber, the yellow pine being generally 
the contiguous kind of tree. 

It is hard to define the limit of "forest" as the timber 
shades off gradually toward the south. A map would rep- 
resent some of the lower mountains of the middle and 
southern counties as having neither sagebrush nor timber. 
While this is substantially correct as to sagebrush, it 
should be qualified with the explanation that some timber 
does occur, often enough to be of great importance to 
the adjacent communities, yet not enough to be regarded 
as a continuous body. 



'■''' '^ CHAPTER V. 

IDAHO IRRIGATION METHODS. 

By Don H. Bark. 
Irrigation Engineer in Charge of U. S. Irrigation Investi- 
gations in Idaho. 

The financial success of the irrigation farmer is largely- 
dependent upon his knowledge of general agriculture, and 
the adaptability of his irrigation methods. 

There are many methods used in the state at the pres- 
ent time. Each one of them has many good features and is 
best adapted to certain combinations of soil, crop and 
topography. The best results, however, cannot be secured 
unless the proper system is used, and it is safe to say 
that many of our Idaho irrigators could greatly increase 
their profits if they could be prevailed upon to change their 
methods of farming. 

There are two common methods or systems of irrigation 
in use, the furrow and the flooding method. The type of 
system that should be used in each case depends upon a 
variety of factors, principal among which are: (1) the 
class of crop; (2) character of soil; (3) topography of the 
land, and (4) the size of the irrigation head. 

The furrow method, generally speaking, is adapted to 
all rowed crops, such as potatoes, corn and orchard, and to 
nearly all crops when planted on soils of medium texture. 

The flooding method is adapted to grain and hay, or 
pasture grasses, on nearly all types of soil, and especially 
to very impervious or extremely porous soils. 

The furrow method consists essentially of running the 
water across the land in small parallel furrows, an equal 
distance apart, only a comparatively small amount of water 
being run in each furrow. These furrows or corrugations 
are made with an instrument somewhat resembling a sled, 
there being two or more runners or shovels. The corruga- 



40 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

tor is drawn by two horses. About five acres per day is 
the average amount of land covered by man and team with 
this machine. The furrows should be made after the seed 
is planted and before it has sprouted. It is usually best to 
make them run in the direction of the greatest slope, 
unless it is excessive, in which case they must be run 
around the slope on a lesser grade. The furrows are made 
from three to six inches wide, their depth, usually, approxi- 
mately equalling their width. The character of the soil 
determines their spacing. They should be spaced such 
a distance apart that the water will sub across and 
meet between them in from twelve to twenty-four hours. 
In medium soils, this distance is usually from two and 
one-half feet to three feet, in sandy soil from three to five 
feet, and in fine grained impervious soil, from eighteen 
inches to two feet. 

Where soils are so impervious that the water will not 
sub across and meet between furrows eighteen inches 
apart, within a reasonable time, a flooding system should 
be installed. 

Very porous soils should always be flooded, as the 
corrugation system allows too much loss of water from 
deep percolation. The corrugation method, as a rule is 
adapted to rougher land than the flooding system, as the 
water can be conducted over the uneven places to better 
advantage with the furrows. 

There are many methods of irrigation by flooding, free 
or wild flooding from feed ditches, without anything to 
guide the water across the field, and with but little pre- 
liminary preparation of the soil; the border method, where 
parallel dykes or borders fifty to one hundred feet apart 
guide the water as it floods across the field; and the check 
or basin method, where small parts of the field are leveled 
and enclosed by dykes, each enclosure being flooded separ- 
ately. The greater per cent of irrigation of grain and 
hay in Idaho is probably now done by the free flooding 
method. This is a wasteful method at the best, if the 
value of time and irrigation water are to be taken into 
consideration, and in addition, less crop is usually produced 
than with other more careful methods. Where this method is 



Manual of Horticulture, Idaho. 



PLATE V 






WHITE WINTER PEARMAIN 



Idaho Irrigation Methods 41 

used, the land ig not usually leveled to any extent, the 
surface is wetted by flooding haphazardly from ditches 
that are usually built along each ridge. A given crop on a 
given soil, during a normal season, requires a certain 
specific amount of water, in order to make a maximum 
production, and unless all parts of the field receive this 
amount, a maximum crop cannot be produced. This fact 
emphasizes the value of careful preparation of the surface 
for irrigation, and makes it clear that the best results 
cannot be obtained by the free or wild flooding method, 
for even application of water cannot be made to rough, 
uneven land. 

There is an insignificant amount of land irrigated by 
the check or basin method of irrigation in the state at 
this time, and it is doubtful whether or not its use should 
be recommended. 

The border method of flooding, however, cannot be too 
highly recommended for all hay and pasture grasses in 
Idaho. This method can usually be installed with a reas- 
onable expenditure, permits the use of large heads of 
water, and is economical of both time and water. This 
type of system is installed by dividing the field in question 
into parallel strips or borders, with small low parallel 
dykes from thirty to one hundred feet apart. These dykes 
should usually extend down the greatest slope, unless it is 
excessive, from the head or feed ditch, built along the 
ridges. These strips should be leveled crosswise, so that 
the water will spread evenly betwen the dykes, but it is 
not necessary to make a uniform grade between them, up 
and down the slope. No more grading is necessary, 
longitudinally, than will permit the water to flow uninter- 
ruptedly without forming pools. The length of these 
borders between cross ditches should not be over six 
hundred feet, as it is a waste of both time and water to 
flood the water farther than this. The dykes separating 
the borders should be rather broad and low, so that a 
mower or wagon can pass over them easily. Where the land 
is well leveled crosswise, dykes six inches high in the 
center and from two to two and one-half feet wide at the 
base, are about right. These dykes should be put in before 



42 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

the crop is planted, and the same amount of seed should 
planted on them as is planted on a similar area between. 
This method is adapted for use with the hay, pasture, and 
the grains, and cannot be too highly recommended, for it 
is believed that it is more economical of time and water 
than any other system that can be installed. Potatoes, 
root crops, and other cultivated crops, including orchards, 
are necessarily irrigated by furrows between the rows. 
The depth of the furrows and their distance apart natur- 
ally depends upon the crop. It has been found all other 
things being equal, that the deeper these furrows are 
made the less loss there will be from evaporation. The 
water, with the furrow system, as well as with the flooding 
system, should not be run too far between cross ditches, 
and it is believed that about six hundred feet is the great- 
est distance that should be used. With porous soils, a 
shorter distance than this would be advisable, for if it is 
run too far, it has to be held on the upper end next 
the head ditch so long before the lower end is irrigated, 
that there is considerable over-irrigation, and loss by deep 
percolation next the head ditch. 

Cultivation has been found to reduce the evaporation 
losses very materially. This holds true with all cultivated 
crops, and especially with orchards. From a series of ex- 
periments carried on by the irrigation investigation 
branch of the United States Department of Agriculture, 
which are described in detail in 0. E. S. Bulletin No. 248, 
it is shown on page 27 that a dry three-inch soil mulch 
makes a saving of 57 per cent of the water lost from an 
unmulched surface, and that deeper muches than this 
make a much greater saving. The same bulletin on page 
60 shows the great saving of water that is made by the 
furrow system of irrigation, over that of the flooding 
system. Where the flooding system lost 1.25 acre inches 
during 28 days; there was only 0.99 of an acre inch lost 
from furrows three inches deep, 0.86 of an acre inch 
with furrows six inches deep, and 0.72 of an acre inch 
where the water was applied in furrows nine inches deep. 

Orchards should be cultivated as soon after irrigation 
as the surface soil is dry enough to work properly. The 



Idaho Irrigation Methods 43 

length of time after irrigation that this can be done will 
depend somewhat upon the character of the soil and the 
weather conditions. With sandy soil, cultivation can 
usually be done with impunity at the end of 24 hours after 
irrigation, while with the finer grained soils, from 48 to 
60 hours are sometimes required to elapse before the 
same can be cultivated to advantage. Orchards are many 
times planted on raw soils, and will do well for the first few 
years, but owing to the inherent nature of Idaho soils, some 
cover crop should usually be planted at the end of about 
the fourth or fifth year, and left to grow for two or three 
years. 

Nearly every type of soil is found in the irrigated sec- 
tions of Idaho, varying from the finest of adobe clays to 
the coarsest of gravels. The majority of the soil, however, 
would be classed as a medium clay loam, finely divided and 
uniform in chemical composition and texture, to a depth of 
four or more feet. The annual precipitation throughout 
the majority of irrigated Idaho ranges from nine to sixteen 
inches, of which from three to six inches usually occur 
during the six months of the growing season, from April 
to September inclusive. This amount of precipitation is 
not conducive to a great amount of native or natural vege- 
tation, and hence the soil is found to be deficient in humus. 
This necessitates the addition of manure or the growing 
and turning under of alfalfa, clover or some other legume, 
before these soils will produce maximum crops, though very 
good yields of grain and potatoes are usually produced on 
raw soils for the first two to four years, after which time 
it is found advisable to plant clover or alfalfa. The first 
crop of grain or potatoes, after the land has been in 
clover or alfalfa for three years, is usually double that 
produced on similar soils that have never grown legumes 
or been manured. Average Idaho soil is almost univer- 
sally found to be very rich in all of the necessary mineral 
plant foods, but nitrogen must be added sooner or later, 
if maximum production is to be secured. This can be done 
in no more economical manner than by planting a legume 
crop, which will store up nitrogen in the soil while produc- 
ing a very valuable crop in itself. Alfalfa sod is well 



44 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

adapted to the growing of orchards, but this crop should 
rarely, if ever, be planted in a growing orchard, as it is 
extremely hard to kill out after the trees have reached a 
good size. The dead leaves and roots are also a good 
harbor for pests, and should not be left there permanently. 
The clovers and the vetches are to be recommended as cover 
crops for orchards. These produce nearly as much food 
value as the alfalfa, store up nitrates just as rapidly, and 
are far easier to kill out. 

Vetches have been grown with success on the Gooding 
Experiment Station. Twelve or more varieties have been 
tried out on this station, and three of them have been very 
promising, having made a very rank growth each year for 
the past three years. These varieties are Vicia Villosa, 
Vicia Dasycarpa and Vicia Fulgens. These vetches are 
annuals, and have given excellent satisfaction in every 
respect. Their nodule development has seemed to be 
greater and more rapid than that of any other legume 
grown on the station. These vetches were grown at Good- 
ing at an altitude of some 3,700 feet, and as they have done 
especially well for three consecutive years, it is quite cer- 
tain that they can be grown with success anywhere in 
south Idaho at or below an altitude of 4,000 feet. 

From the results of a Duty of Water investigation cov- 
ering the seasons of 1910, 1911 and 1912, in which hun- 
dreds of different fields of all kinds of crops were included, 
it seems evident that 1.5 acre feet per acre per season will 
be sufficient for bearing orchards on deep soils of medium 
texture, if clean cultivation is practiced and a thorough 
dust mulch is maintained. If cover crops are planted in the 
orchard, a larger amount of water than this will no doubt 
be found necessary. Alfalfa has been found to require 2.5 
acre feet per acre per season on the better class of soils and it 
seems possible that an aged orchard with a rank cover 
crop will require at least three acre feet per acre per 
season. It is not necessary, however, to plant cover crop 
on all of an orchard at the same time, and if rotation is 
practiced, planting the cover crop only on one-half of the 
orchard at a time, the other half being clean cultivated, the 
results of the investigation strongly indicate that two acre 



Idaho Irrigation Methods 45 

feet per acre per season on the average south Idaho soils 
of four or more feet in depth will be found sufficient. 

The Duty of Water has been found to depend upon a 
variety of factors, principal among which are, (1) the 
character of the soil and subsoil; (2) climatic conditions; 
(3) fertility of the soil, (4) diversification of the crops; 
(5) use of rotation; (6) preparation of the land, and (7) 
kind of crop. The effect of these factors on the duty is 
self-evident, their combined influence is sufficient, in many 
cases, to double and quadruple the duty. The investigation 
has emphasized the fact throughout that careful prepara- 
tion of the soil, and handling of the crop always pay big 
returns on the investment if the value of the water is to be 
taken into consideration. There is no question but that a 
larger amount of water than is actually necessary is being 
used in many instances throughout the state. Water is 
becoming more valuable each year, so much so that there is 
a strong tendency to cut the allotted amount to the mini- 
mum, wherever possible, but the investigation that has 
been carried out will be immensely valuable in determining 
the minimum amount that will give satisfactory results in 
each case. The statements of duty that have been made above 
are all based on deep, uniform soil, and larger amounts will 
be required where very impervious soils or porus soils are 
found. 

The investigation, as a whole, shows that two acre 
feet per acre is the proper duty for diversified crops on 
the best class of Idaho soils, and that most unusual con- 
ditions must obtain before one will be warranted in open- 
up a project with less than this amount of water. The 
largest yields have been made in many cases where the 
largest amounts of water have been applied, yet the 
largest yields per unit of water have invariably been made 
where the smaller amounts have been applied. This em- 
phasizes the fact that the value of the land, of the water 
and of the crops produced, together with the costs of 
producing the same, must all be taken into consideration, 
as well as the amount of water that will produce the larg- 
est yield, when determining the economic duty for any 
project. There is no doubt but that broadly speaking, one 



46 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

would be justified in assuming a higher duty of water in 
places where water is very valuable and land compara- 
tively cheap, than where land is high and water com- 
paratively inexpensive. It is practically as easy, and fully 
as serious, however, to err on one side as on the other in 
this matter, and serious consideration of this problem 
must be urged at all times, in order that stable develop- 
ment may be promoted and that justice may be done to 
all parties. 



CHAPTER VI. 
PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF IRRIGATION. 

BY ELIAS NELSON. 

Seventy-seven per cent of the area of Idaho lies in the 
arid belt. With a few exceptions fruit is not grown 
without irrigation outside the "Panhandle." The irrigated 
area of the state is nearly 1,500,000 acres, of which 
about 140,000 are in orchards. This is about two-thirds 
the total orchard area. 

An annual rainfall of 20 inches is generally conceded 
as sufficient for successful fruit culture without irrigation 
under average soil conditions. The depth and retentive- 
ness of the soil as well as the amount of rainfall is a 
factor in determining the need of irrigation. Fifteen 
inches of rainfall well husbanded by thorough cultivation 
has been found sufficient for deep, retentive soils. In 
certain localities there is a natural underground supply 
of moisture within reach of the roots. In such places 
the amount of the rainfall is not of great importance. 
There are many successful orchards in foothill localities 
in southern Idaho, where these conditions obtain. A per- 
fect state of cultivation, however, is maintained in these 
orchards. Another instance of the importance of soil 
conditions in determining the need of irrigation is found 
in Nez Perce county. Situated between the high grain- 
bearing table lands and the river bottoms are bench land, 
where the soil is two to four feet deep and quite retentive 
of moisture. Here a great deal of fruit is grown without 
irrigation. On certain parts of the bottoms, however, 
the soil is somewhat porus and the vineyards and orchards 
located there are regularly irrigated. 

To supply moisture and preserve proper tilth is by no 
means the least important part of fruit growing. Serious 
injuries have been experienced in the past by the excessive 
use of water. That many growers use more water than is 
necessary, there is no doubt. More frequent cultivation 



48 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

and less irrigation has been found to give better results. 
Those who have learned this by experience no longer use 
as large amounts of water as formerly, even though the 
water may be abundant. This tendency to apply less 
water will result in more intelligent orchard management. 

Since the irrigator constantly has to deal with soil 
conditions, an appreciation of the various phenomena of 
translocation of ground water is very important. The 
movements of water in the soil are due to gravity and 
capillary attraction. Gravity acts chiefly through coarse 
sand or gravel or any adventitious interstices in the soil. 
In porus soil the downward movement of the water may 
be very rapid and the losses great. More frequent irri- 
gations are necessary on soil of this character as a 
large amount may seep away beyond the reach of the 
roots. Capillarity comes into play where the soil particles 
are fine and lie close together. It acts in any direction, 
upward, downward and horizontally. It aids gravity in 
distributing irrigation water through the soil and draws 
moisture up from the subsoil to the surface. During 
rains and when water is applied the movement is down- 
ward. This, however, is soon reversed, so that in the 
intervals between irrigations the movement is upward. 
Where the soil is fine and deep capillarity may draw mois- 
ture from a depth of 6 feet or more. It is checked 
wherever the spaces between the soil grains are filled 
with air; hence, the value of an earth mulch as a cover 
which more or less completely prevents the escape of 
moisture. Hardpan may entirely stop percolation and 
any compact layer of soil may greatly retard it. 

In all soils there is a network of interstices among the 
soil grains. Ordinarily these spaces contain some air, but 
in a saturated soil all air has been excluded. Without air 
the roots cannot perform their functions. More water 
than 80 per cent of the water-holding capacity is detrimen- 
tal. Forty to sixty percent, or about half air and half 
water in the spaces in the soil is the condition best suited 
to plant growth. 

The fine volcanic soil of southern Idaho, for instance, 
has a water-holding capacity equal to 25 per cent of its 



Manual of Horticulture, Idaho. 



PLATE VI. 




WINESAP 



Principles and Methods of Irrigation 49 

weight, while the open spaces comprise 44 per cent of 
its volume. In this soil the percentage of moisture 
remains quite constant under irrigation. Sixty per cent 
of the total capacity or fifteen per cent of the weight is 
the prevailing amount in the subsoil. It is only for a few 
days after irrigation that more than this is found, and 
only when the supply in the subsoil has been too heavily 
drawn upon that there is less. 

A deep, retentive soil is a great advantage. Such a 
soil becomes a vast storage reservoir which is never 
quickly exhausted. With proper cultivation the loss of 
moisture may be reduced to a minimum and a high duty 
of water thus attained. Water need not be applied as 
frequently as on shallow soils where the storage capacity 
is limited. Coarse, leachy soils also require frequent 
irrigations since much water is lost by percolation. 

The use of more water than is required for best results 
is not only a waste of a valuable commodity, but is 
responsible for certain injurious effects. When a state 
of saturation is reached air is excluded, resulting in a 
temporary checking of growth and interference with 
proper assimilation. If these conditions are prolonged, 
serious injury may result. Many orchards have been 
ruined by the accumulation of alkali, brought by seepage 
waters from higher lands. When such injuries appear in 
orchards, there is no remedy other than artificial drain- 
age. Where the soil is shallow and underlaid with an 
impervious formation, economy in the use of water and 
thorough cultivation will generally lessen the evils of 
defective drainage. 

In some soils saturation of the surface causes a com- 
pacting and cementing together of the soil particles, and 
the proper tilth is not easily restored. Moisture at the 
surface serves no beneficial purpose, and is a waste since 
the water absorbed is almost entirely lost by evaporation. 

What the irrigator should try to accomplish is to convey 
the water to the roots and replenish the supply in the 
subsoil and in so doing not saturate the surface. We 
cannot precisely attain this in practice. However, by the 
use of furrows moderately deep it is possible to handle 



50 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

irrigation water in such a manner as not to wet or com- 
pact the surface to a great extent. Such a management 
tends to induce deep rooting, which is desirable. 

The furrow system modified to suit the requirement of 
the orchard is without doubt the best method to use in 
Idaho. The number of furrows between the rows must be 
varied to suit the age of the orchard and the character of 
the soil. Certain soils require five while in some soils 
two may irrigate thoroughly between rows. A sufficient 
number should be made so that water is distributed 
throughout the soil. The roots will then spread evenly. 
Some growers irrigate young orchards with a furrow on 
one side of the row. This is not enough nor are two 
furrows for each row always sufficient. After the first 
irrigation at the time of planting there should always be 
at least two furrows and additional ones should be added 
from year to year as the roots spread. It is important to 
supply all the roots with moisture and always to keep a 
furrow in advance of them as they push out into the space 
intervening between the rows. 

Bush fruits will require one or two furrows between 
rows. Strawberries should have one furrow for every 
two rows, and in irrigating them, water should preferably 
be started late in the afternoon, for the soil and water 
are warm at that time of day. The irrigation may be 
continued during the forenight if necessary. 

To install the furrow system the procedure is as fol- 
lows: When the conformation of the land permits it, the 
head ditches are located 300 to 500 feet apart and at right 
angles to the furrows. When they must be made on con- 
tours, they should have a grade of 1% to 2% inches to 
each 100 feet and their distance apart be such that the 
furrows are 300 to 500 feet long. Check boxes are placed 
in the head ditches at such distances apart that the splash 
board will raise the water high enough to flow readily 
into all the furrows. The splash boards are so adjusted 
that the excess water in each section flows into the next 
below until the whole head of water is being distributed. 
Each head ditch below the highest one catches the water 
from the furrows above it and redistributes it. To divert 



Principles and Methods of Irrigation 51 

the water from the head ditches small gates or lath tubes 
are placed in the ditch bank. Spouts 11/2 to 2 feet long 
made of lath will usually supply sufficient water for each 
furrow. However, when a larger stream than the lath 
spouts divert is needed, tubes may be made of half-inch 
lumber of the proper width. The spouts are placed in the 
ditch bank just below the surface of the water. When the 
splash boards are in place the water will flow through the 
spouts and when any section of the orchard has received 
sufficient water the boards are removed and the water then 
drops below the level of the spouts. In porus soil the 
furrows should be 300 to 400 feet long. In soil that does 
not absorb water readily they may be much longer and a 
smaller stream of water should be run for a longer time. 
The automatic feature of the system and the even distribu- 
tion of the water which it insures, make it very advan- 
tageous. Flooding should never be practiced in orchards, 
nor should water ever be allowed to come in contact 
with the trunks of the trees. 

The irrigating season in Idaho is from May to August. 
After the first of September irrigation should cease in 
young orchards in order that the wood may have ample 
time to mature. If water is not withheld at that time 
growth may be prolonged in favorable weather and killing 
back may result should a severe freeze occur. The orchard 
should not go into winter with a dry soil, and unless tol- 
erably moist, water must be applied in the fall after all 
growth has ceased. 

In a deep, retentive soil two to four irrigations a season 
may be ample, while in shallow soil six applications are not 
uncommon. The frequency of application and the amount 
are determined by soil conditions, rainfall and mean sum- 
mer temperature. A close study of these factors by the 
grower is essential in judging the need of irrigation. 

Irrigation and cultivation go hand in hand, and being 
so closely related a discussion of the former would not be 
complete without some notice of the latter. Irrigation 
cannot take the place of cultivation, for it is beneficial in 
other ways than conserving moisture, such as opening and 
aerating the soil. The chief benefit of cultivation and the 



52 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

one uppermost in our minds is that of conservation of 
soil moisture. It has already been pointed out that a 
dry, loose soil is impermeable to moisture. Hence by 
keeping the surface well pulverized the connection between 
the moist soil and the air is broken and the loss by evap- 
oration prevented. Experience has shown that this surface 
mulch needs to be stirred frequently even though not com- 
pacted by rain. 

Cultivation also serves to make the soil receptive to 
moisture. When rain occurs there is little or no run-off 
in well prepared soil and surface saturation is lessened. 
As often as tilth is destroyed by showers or irrigation it 
must be restored. Local conditions must indicate the 
depth and time of cultivation, f n general there should 
be more frequent cultivation now.;han is practiced. Some 
cultivate but once after each i- rigation. This is not 
enough. The interval between ':3ach cultivation should 
not be more than two weeks and 8 to 15 per season should 
be sufficient under average conditions. 

Growers who practice clean cultivation plow once in 
spring. This is for the purpose of opening the soil. By 
cutting the roots that venture too near the surface, it 
establishes deep rooting. Cultivation alone without any 
plowing is not a good practice. In heavy soils there is a 
tendency toward a compact layer just below the depth to 
which the soil is worked. The use of shallow irrigation 
furrows often aggravates this condition. Such a compact 
layer very materially retards the percolation of water. 
The spring plowing is the remedy for this condition, mak- 
ing subsequent irrigation easier. 

The growing of annual crops between the rows for 
four or five years after the trees are set out is allowable. 
No crop, however, which does not admit of cultivation, 
should be grown in the young orchard. After it has 
reached the bearing age intercropping should have in 
view the improvement of the soil. The extra water re- 
quired and the drain upon fertility must be carefully 
considered. In a few rare cases the soil may be so deep, 
retentive and fertile, and water so abundant that inter- 
cropping may be practiced with comparative impunity. 



Principles and Methods of Irrigation 53 

Even though Idaho soils are very fertile, the growing of 
any crop for itself in bearing orchards should be dis- 
couraged. 

Some growers use permanent and others occasional 
cover crops. The benefits derived from these crops are 
the improvement of the condition of the soil by the 
addition of humus, protection against high soil temper- 
atures in summer, addition of nitrogen and winter pro- 
tection for the soil. Heavy soils are greatly benefited by 
plowing under cover crops as the organic matter added 
makes the soil more friable and more retentive of mois- 
ture. The use of cover crops to protect the soil during 
the hot summer weather seems to have much weight with 
some growers, and these keep the orchard permanently in 
red clover or alfalfa. They disc in spring and follow with 
a smoothing harrow. The first crop is cut for hay while 
the second is allowed to remain as a cover during the 
winter. Another practice in much favor is that of alter- 
nating a cover crop of red clover kept for two or three 
years, with clean cultivation for a like period. The idea 
of soil improvement is uppermost in the minds of those 
who advocate this system. 

A cover crop does not conserve moisture but on the 
other hand robs the soil of it. Hence, sufficient water 
must be applied both for the cover crop and the trees. 
Their use is therefore restricted to those localities where 
water is fairly abundant. 

Green crops plowed under return to the soil those 
elements of fertility which they take from it, adding 
organic matter and also nitrogen if the crop be a legume. 
This is a decided benefit. When, however, a crop is 
removed, there is a loss which cannot be restored by 
green manuring. Idaho soils in their virgin state lack 
both nitrogen and humus. There is thus an obvious need 
of a cover crop to put the soil in good condition for 
fruit production. 



CHAPTER VII. 
FRUIT FOR HOME USE. 

T. A. ALLEN, MERIDIAN, IDAHO 

This is a subject of vital importance and one which 
has been sadly neglected in many localities. Every farmer 
should plant and take care of a home fruit garden, and 
no farm is complete without it. The fruit garden should 
consist of a choice lot of fruit bearing trees and shrubs, 
maintained for the purpose of supplying fresh and luscious 
fruits. In its general purpose, then, the fruit garden is 
intended to accomplish results similar to those of the 
vegetable garden. In distinction from an orchard, the 
fruit garden is more restricted in area, it is intended for 
home rather than for market purposes, and consequently 
should comprise a much greater variety of fruits. 

With the present growth of the commercial fruit in- 
terests of the United States the home fruit garden is not 
receiving the special attention it justly deserves. 

Only a few years ago the owners of home fruit gardens 
not only led in the production of fruits, but were our 
authorities as to how and where to grow them. Today 
these gardens, while no less numerous or important, are 
overshadowed by the orchards where fruit is grown for 
commercial purposes. 

While both the home garden and the orchard are essen- 
tial to the good of the community, they bear very different 
relations, to the fruit interests of the country as a whole. 

The home garden is always the forerunner of commer- 
cial development, and even in those localities where climatic 
and soil conditions are adverse to conducting such indus- 
tries on an extensive scale the home fruit garden of the 
enthusiastic amateur is certain to be found. All the suc- 
cess attained today by the fruit interests of the United 
States has grown out of the persevering efforts of a few 



56 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

men whose home fruit gardens served not only as testing 
stations for determining the fitness of given sorts for new 
and untried localities but they were the propagating 
grounds from which sorts of the highest quality and 
greatest commercial value originated. 

The testing of varieties in new localities and the 
development and dissemination of new sorts by the ama- 
teur is an important work, but the greatest good accom- 
plished by him is to be found in the wholesome influence 
which he exerts on the community in which he lives. 

A community is certain to profit aesthetically as well as 
financially from the influence of such growers, and it is 
to them t'lat we owe our appreciation for high quality. A 
discriminating taste developed in a neighborhood creates 
a demand which it pays to gratify and the amateur who 
grows fruits for quality will find a ready market in such 
a section. 

The inhabitants of this country are notably a fruit- 
loving and fruit-eating people. Notwithstanding this, how- 
ever, fruit culture has grown to be classed among the 
specialties, and few persons who consume fruit are actual 
growers. 

The possibilities in fruit culture upon restricted areas 
have been very generally overlooked, with the result that 
many persons who own a city lot, a suburban home, or 
even a farm, now look upon fruit as a luxury. 

This can all be changed and much of the land which is 
now practically waste and entirely unremunerative can be 
made to produce fruits in sufficient quantity to give them 
a regular place upon the family bill of fare and at the 
same time add greatly to the attractiveness of the table 
and healthfulness of the diet. The home production of 
fruit stimulates an interest in and a love for natural 
objects which can only be acquired by that familiarity 
with them which comes through their culture. The cul- 
tivation of fruits teaches discrimination. A grower is a 
much more intelligent buyer than one who has not had the 
advantages of tasting the better dessert sorts as they come 
from the tree. 

If every purchaser was a good judge of the different 



Fruit for Home Use 57 

kinds of fruits, the demand for fruits of high quality, to 
produce which is the ambition of every amateur, as well 
as every professional fruit grower, would become a reality. 
But until some means of teaching the differences in the 
quality of fruits can be devised the general public will 
continue to buy according to the eye rather than the 
palate. 

The encouragement of the cultivation of fine fruits in 
the home garden will do much towards teaching buyers 
this discrimination. Besides increasing the fruit supply 
and cultivating a taste for quality, the maintenance of a 
fruit garden brings pleasant and healthful employment, 
and instead of proving a hardship, will become a great 
source of pleasure. 

The possession of a tree which one himself has planted 
and reared to fruit production carries an added interest 
in its product, as well as in the operation by which it was 
secured. The unfolding of the leaf, the exposure of the 
blossom buds, the development of the flowers, and the for- 
mation of the fruit are all processes which measure the 
skill of the cultivator, and when the crowning result of 
all these natural functions has been attained in a crop of 
perfect fruit, the man under whose care these results have 
been achieved will himself have been made happier and 
better. 

Most persons engaging in the cultivation of a home 
fruit garden will have as their chief aim the production 
of fruit for the family table and the pleasure it affords; 
others will go a step farther and find an added source of 
pleasure in the problems of budding, grafting, cross-pol- 
lination and the production of new forms. 

In order to prove a source of constant pleasure and 
gratification a fruit plantation must claim the attention of 
its grower from early spring to late autumn; its products, 
portion of the seasons between frosts. The problem pre- 
sented involves a succession of fruits from earliest to 
latest, as well as a combination of different species of 
fruits. 

The intensive culture and liberal feeding to be given 



58 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

demand that all plants be of type which bear early and 
heavily in proportion to their size. 

As a general rule the following list of varieties do fairly 
well in Idaho. Summer apples — Early Harvest, White 
Transparent, Duchess, Red Astrichan and Red June; Fall 
Apples— Maiden Blush, Wealthy, Tolman Sweet, Fameuse 
too, must be so planned as to cover the greatest possible 
and Jonathan; Winter Apples— White Winter Pearmain, 
Rome Beauty, Grimes Golden, R. I. Greening, Delicious, 
Winesap and Belleflower; Crab Apples — Transcendent, 
Yellow Siberian and Hyslop ; Prunes, Golden Silver, Italian, 
French, Pacific, Hungarian and German. Pears — Bartlett, 
Flemish Beauty, Duchess, Sugar, Keiffer, Seckel and Win- 
ter Nelis. Peaches — Muir, Elberta, Early Crawford, Late 
Crawford, Lemon Cling and Alexander. Plums — Green 
Gage, Weaver, Wild Goose, Egg and Burbank. Grapes — 
Niagara, Concord, Worden, Moore's Early and Brighton. 
Raspberries — Gregg, Cuthbert, and Everbearing. Straw- 
berries — Glen Mary, Wilson, Brandywine, Senator Dunlap, 
Wm. Belt, Jumbo, Gandy and Jessie. Cherries — Early 
Richmond, Montmorency, Black Tartarian, Royal Ann, 
Bing, Early Duke, Late Duke. Quinces — Prolific and 
Champion. Apricots — Montezumet. Nectarines — Boston. 
Blackberries — Taylor and Agawam. Currants — Cherry, 
Victoria, White Grape and Black Champion. Gooseberries 
— Columbus and Downing. 

This collection will give you fresh fruit every day in the 
year if properly cared for. Strive to obtain quality rather 
than quantity. 

The laboring man is entitled to the best there is pro- 
duced. Why not see that you have it? 



CHAPTER VIII. 
FRUIT BY-PRODUCTS. 

C. J. SINSEL, BOISE, IDAHO. 

The producing of fruit has claimed the attention of 
some of our finest intellects — and now we must ask these 
same men to help in marketing our products. This sub- 
ject has been one for discussion for years but we are now 
at the place where we must put our researches into 
practice. 

I have given the by-product end of the industry some 
thought and the past two years have visited several suc- 
cessfully operated plants, and secured data from the dif- 
ferent managers, and will endeavor here to give this in- 
formation for those interested. 

First let us understand that all fruits grown are grad- 
ed for commercial purposes into three grades, viz.: Extra 
Fancy, Fancy and Choice, these being the commercial terms 
used to designate quality, and many a packer has made the 
mistake of not grading close enough ; that is, he would get 
culls in his Choice, Choice in the Fancy, and Fancy in his 
Extras, all because he has no other way of disposing of 
his crop except selling it in its raw state. Now let us 
see what others are doing and estimate our losses, or what 
we can save by adopting modem methods. Let us first 
take the apple, the King of Fruits, and grade it into 
four grades, viz.: Culls, Choice, Fancy and Extras. Let 
us pack the Extra and the Fancy for the markets, and be 
sure that they are strictly up to grade — ^now by keeping 
choice and the culls at home we have cut down the quantity 
and increased quality of our fruit shipments and naturally 
increased the market price. 

Now what to do with the choice and culls that we have 
on hand is the object of this article. First let us under- 
stand that all the equipment necessary to handle 50,000 



60 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

bushels of apples in one season will cost about $2,000, and 
can be installed in connection with your packing house. 

Fifty pounds of bruised wind-falls or decay spotted ap- 
ples will make three gallons of finished vinegar, and will 
cost for labor, barrels, handling, selling, 20 cents for 
the three gallons, and will sell for at least 20 cents per 
gallon, which leaves a profit of 40 cents per bushel for the 
fruit that is now wasted, or worse, left in the orchard for 
the propagation of fruit pests. 

Next let us take 50 pounds of the off-color, off-size, 
ill-shaped, and make them into cider; it will make you 
four gallons of cider at a cost of 20 cents for the four 
gallons, all expenses included, and selling at 20 cents 
per gallon gives you 60 cents per bushel for your better 
culls, which should never be sold only in the manufactured 
state. 

We now have the choice which are off in color, skin 
punctures, stings, too large or too small but firm, which 
we can make into apple butter and jelly. Fifty pounds of 
apples will make ll^ gallons of finished apple butter and 
will cost for labor, sugar, fuel, kegs, or buckets, all com- 
plete, 60 cents per gallon, and sell readily at $1.00 per 
gallon, or net 50 cents per box for the apples. 

From this grade jelly can be made at the following 
cost: Fifty pounds of apples will make twenty-four pints 
of jelly, and will cost for the glasses, sugar, fuel, labor, 
labels, selling, all complete, $1.40 for the two dozen pints 
and sell readily at 10 cents per glass or $2.40 for the 50 
pounds of apples, less the cost of production, leaves us 
$1.00 per box for these apples, and when you consider that 
all of these by-products can be made by yourself in the 
fall and winter when you are not busy it will give a better 
profit than I have estimated, as I have taken my figures 
from plants where everyone received good wages and not 
personally interested in the financial results. When we 
know that the complete equipment for a plant capable of 
handling 50,000 bushels of apples in a winter season can 
be installed for $2,000, why should not every community 
have by-product plants enough to care for their fruits? 

What would this have meant to the growers in southern 



Fruit By-Products 61 

Idaho and Utah the past (1912) season? There were ap- 
proximately 1,400,000 boxes of apples grown and at least 
one-third of these should have been made into by-products, 
that would have netted the growers at least $250,000 and 
no chances taken, and at the same time reduced the quan- 
tity and increased the quality of the fruit shipped, thus 
assuring us of better returns on what we would have 
shipped. 

In addition to these products, in many of the peach and 
cherry growing districts, canneries have been built and 
operated very satisfactorily to the owners of the orchards, 
and in the prune districts evaporators care for the sur- 
plus and culls as well, being used in many places to cure 
apples, peaches and pears in addition to the prunes. 



CHAPTER IX. 
BY-PRODUCTS. 

BY FREMONT WOOD. 

President State Horticultural Society. 

For years I have been urging the utilization of the 
poorer grades of fruit for by-products. By by-products I 
mean the enlarged use of the term so as to include evapor- 
ation, canning, evaporation of the juices, making jellies 
and jams, making of ciders, dry and sterilized, cider vine- 
gar, etc. 

Our long distance from the markets of the country ex- 
cludes the possibility of marketing second grade fruits in 
competition with fruits grown near the point of con- 
sumption. The most that we can expect in the near future 
is a profitable market for our specialties. By specialties I 
mean our fancy and extra fancy grades of apples and pears 
and the highest grade of the smaller fruits. This of 
necessity will mean a large surplus either for waste or 
utilization by the method above suggested. The apple is 
a wonderful food product, and everything that will not 
stand shipment should be utilized by some of these 
methods. Co-operative marketing must be adopted for the 
successful handling of our best fruits, and the same meth- 
ods must be used for the conversion of our poorer class 
into by-products and the handling and the marketing of 
the same. 

The fruit growers of Idaho and the northwest must 
understand that the future success of the fruit industry 
depends first upon the production of the highest per cent 
possible of fancy grade fruit and the utilization of every- 
thing else through the by-product plant. 

It has been suggested that the transportation lines 
prefer handling the green fruit and for that reason discour- 
age plants for evaporation and other methods of concen- 



64 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

trating the product. The growers need not fear this 
situation because the transportation lines will be the first 
to realize the necessity for the utilization by the grower 
of his crops upon lines that will continue the business 
rather than throttle it. 

A campaign of advertising our green fruits has already 
been undertaken, and high grade specialties can be manu- 
factured through all the methods above enumerated. I 
would not recommend the growing of the fruit with a 
view of manufacturing it into by-products, but rather for 
the purpose of producing the highest per cent of perfect 
fruit. Wherever the utmost care is used, there will always 
be a considerable per cent for the evaporators, the canning- 
plant and the cider press. 

The apples of our northwestern states are very rich in 
sugar content and with the increasing cost of meats and 
dairy products the high grade jellies and other products 
should be placed upon the market at such a price as to 
involve very extensive consumption and at the same time 
be a remunerative business to the apple grower. Again it 
would pay the grower in the end to give away his poorer 
grade of fruits rather than place it upon the market. The 
placing of low grade fruit upon the market has such a ten- 
dency to reduce the price of his high grade fruit that he 
is bound to lose money by the undertaking. 

My recommendation for the future is to prune severely, 
thin thoroughly and raise the highest grade fruit possible; 
market only the fancy grades as specialties and dispose of 
the balance either through his own or a community by- 
product plant. Manufacture nothing in the by-product 
plant except a product of the highest quality, and when 
this is accomplished the fruit business of the northwest 
will be placed upon a substantial basis. 



Manual of Hoi'ticulture, Idaho. 



PLATE YIL 




YELLOW NEWTON 



CHAPTER X. 
COMMERCIAL FRUIT GROWING IN IDAHO. 

BY JOHN U. MCPHERSON. 

State Horticultural Inspector. 

In the past six years somewhere near one-quarter of 
a million acres of land in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington 
have been planted to fruit, the major portion of this to 
apples. The number of trees exceeds 15,000,000. This 
is about one-fifth of the entire apple growing area in the 
United States. The estimated value is about $200,000,000, 
and practically every district in these three states, where 
transportation facilities are available, has its commercial 
orchards. Not more than 20 per cent of the total plant- 
ings have reached what may be termed "in full bearing," 
and the writer does not believe that over one-third of the 
whole acreage is five years old or upward. Each year is 
bringing into bearing a great many thousand acres, and it 
can easily be seen that the producing area is being added 
to by the thousand acres each year. To illustrate what 
this means, it is estimated that the trees in bearing in 
1912 will double the yield per car of commercial fruit 
over the year 1910, which was the banner year of the 
northwest in fruit production. 

From the following figures can be seen the great 
strides that Idaho has made in the last few years in fruit 
production when we compare it with the producton of our 
two sister states. This estimate is based upon the con- 
ditions of 1910 rather than upon the present date, and 
the writer believes that the figures are conservative. The 
state of Oregon in 1910 had a total acreage of about 106,- 
000 acres, with about 5 per cent in full bearing, and 
from this acreage 1,900 cars were shipped. Washington, 
with 115,000 acres, and with a percentage in bearing a 
little larger than Oregon, shipped something over 5,000 



66 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

cars. Idaho with 60,000 acres, and about 15 per cent in 
bearing, shipped 2,500 cars, which included prunes ana 
peaches, at a value of over $2,000,000. The acreage 
planted to new orchard since that time has doubled, and 
at the present time we have something near 120,000 acres 
in orchard, and each year a large acreage comes into 
bearing. It is estimated by one of the largest railroad 
companies in the state that our output in the next five 
years will be between five and seven thousand cars, or 
more than double the output of 1910. 

The largest plantings in Idaho, this last season, were 
in the Twin Falls country, thousands of acres being 
planted to orchard in Twin Falls and Lincoln counties. 
There was also a very large planting in the northern part 
of the state, where, in the five northern counties, the 
State Horticultural Department inspected over 600,000 
trees. Not only in these counties has heavy planting been 
done, but all over the state, and this last year, several 
large companies planted many thousands of acres to 
commercial orchards. The varieties planted vary some- 
what according to location and local conditions, as well 
as the length of the growing season. The varieties that are 
most extensively raised at this time, and which are 
bringing the best prices in the eastern markets are the 
Jonathan, Rome Beauty and Winesap, these being our 
leaders, although we can, and do, raise many other stan- 
dard varieties, for, in fact, we raise any apple raised in the 
northwest. The large planting in the state of 1911 is of 
standard varieties. 

The extensive planting of 1911 brought up the question 
in the minds of some of the large growers in Idaho as to 
whether the markets can be overdone with so great a 
planted area. It is a fact that the states west of the 
Rocky Mountains will always be called upon to furnish the 
markets with the high grade commercial apple. Accord- 
ing to the statistics of 1910, the output of apples in Idaho, 
Oregon and Washington amounted to 5,922,000 boxes. 
This output alone would not supply the cities of New York 
and Chicago with fruit if it were distributed one box per 
man per year. And going a little farther into this matter. 



Commercial Fruit Growing in Idaho. 67 

the output of apples of the United States is less than one- 
half what it was seventeen years ago. According to sta- 
tistics for the year 1895, 60,540,000 barrels were raised, 
and for the year 1911, as estimated, only 30,000,000 bar- 
rels were produced, while on the other hand, our export 
trade has increased. During the year 1897 our export 
was 505,390 barrels; for 1910 and a portion of 1911, it 
was 1,721,706 barrels, or an increase of 1,000,000 in the 
past fourteen years. Thus, while the production has de- 
creased, our export trade has greatly increased. 

Another great factor in fruit production is that no two 
districts are alike in all respects. Each district has its 
marked peculiarities. No variety will grow alike in two 
districts, and in some instances the dissimilarity is very 
marked. This condition is not, however, without its 
value. In the first place it justifies specializing of variety 
in sections where it has been demonstrated that certain 
varieties grow to better advantage than others, and it 
helps to check the tendency of the growers to set out an 
orchard disregarding circumstances, and to consider instead 
varieties which will not only yield better quality, but will 
be constant yielders year after year. If all the states of 
the northwest were able to raise the same variety, it would 
not be but a short time until there would be an over-pro- 
duction of those certain varieties, but there is a great dif- 
ference in the growing seasons in the different localities 
in Idaho where apples are produced. The effect of this 
condition is of great value, and is demonstrated by the 
fact that no surplus planting of any one variety has taken 
place to any great extent up to date, but the mixtures 
such as are now raised have been such as to meet the 
wants of the trade, and on the other hand it will give 
the grower the best net returns according to the time and 
money which he has put into the production of this fruit. 
It also spreads the time of harvesting and the marketing 
season over a period of months beginning with the 
Wealthy apple, which is packed in the Boise, Payette and 
Weiser valleys from the first to the middle of September, 
and ending with the Winesap and Rome Beauty, which 
come in the month of November. 



68 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

Taking all of these conditions into consideration, and 
knowing that the eastern states can never compete with 
the western slope in apple production on account of their 
climatic conditions, it can easily be seen that if we hold 
to our present high standard, and try to better it as fast 
as possible, that there will never be a time when first class 
fruit will not be in demand. 

There is not a state west of the Rocky Mountains that 
has a greater future in horticultural work than has th» 
state of Idaho. We can, and do, produce fruit of size, 
color and texture that cannot be surpassed in any section. 
The fruit growers of Idaho today are striving to produce 
quality rather than quantity, for they know that when we 
can attain the highest in quality, that the matter of gainng 
quantity is very easy, and it is certain that within a very 
short period of years Idaho will be classed as one of the 
best horticultural states in the west, for both quality and 
quantity in fruit production. 

The year of 1912 marked and will go on record as one 
of the most remarkable years in fruit production known 
in the history of the state both in large and small fruits. 
The number of cars produced last year was 3,775, or an 
increase of 760 cars over the year 1910, which was the 
banner year, up to that time, in the history of the state. 

This large production of the past year, 1912, has caused 
the fruit grower to look for more and better markets, both 
in the United States and abroad. There have been a great 
many plans advanced as to the best way to create and hold 
new markets, and many of these plans are founded on 
good ideas, and if put into effect should be of great benefit 
to all the fruit growers of the state. No matter what plan 
may be adopted it must be backed by an endorsement of 
all the fruit growers of this state, if not by all of the 
northwest states. It is, without a doubt, up to each and 
every fruit grower of Idaho to stand behind any good move- 
ment that may be advanced in the fruit industry in any of 
its branches, and all should work together in the raising, 
packing and grading of fruits, as well as to help with the 
financial end of any association. 

It is one thing to raise products, which you think the 



Commercial Fruit Growing in Idaho. 69 

consumer should have» and another to raise the thing 
which he wants. The requirements of the consumer must 
be studied, and then they must be met. When markets 
are poor and competition keen, it is only the best product 
which finds a market at any price. When markets are 
good, high grade products, carefully selected and packed, 
bring top prices, while poorer grades bring less. It costs 
no more to raise good crops than it does to raise poor 
ones. 

Careful attention to this question distinguishes the 
successful fruit raiser from his unsuccessful neighbor. 
The first step toward creating markets, and holding them, 
is to raise a product which the market wants. You must 
be in a position to guarantee that your products are as 
represented. Without this guarantee it is useless to try and 
create new markets, much less hold them. 

This great production of fruit this past year has been 
a benefit to all fruit growers of the state in a great many 
ways. It has shown the need of co-operative effort along 
all lines of horticulture, and I feel safe in saying that this 
year will see a great advance, not only along the line of 
growing what the markets want, but by a combined effort 
new and better markets will be secured and held for all 
time to come. 



CHAPTER XL 
PRUNE INDUSTRY IN IDAHO. 

By C. J. SiNSEL, National Fimit Judge. 

The title line "Home of the Purple Prune" has rightly- 
been awarded to Idaho, since it is here in the fertile val- 
leys we find this special variety of fruit growing to per- 
fection. 

A few years since many of our farmers and horticul- 
turists saw a great future for the prune industry, and as 
a consequence, several large and a great many small prune 
orchards were planted. At this time many were disap- 
pointed in the returns from their prune crop, since it was 
a new industry and had not been sufficiently advertised to 
create a ready demand for the product. After a few years 
of disappointments many become thoroughly dissatisfied, 
and cut down or pulled out their prune trees. About this 
time Idaho prunes had gotten a foothold in the commercial 
world and in place of being unfavorably looked upon in 
the market, a demand was created, and this demand has 
increased annually from that time to this. About five years 
since a great many realized the error of their former 
actions and again prune trees were planted in great num- 
bers, and from present indications the men who were for- 
tunate in having land adapted to prune growing and set 
the same to Italian prunes are reaping a rich reward for 
their efforts. Prices for fresh fruit have advanced from 
packing charges to twenty and thirty-five dollars per ton 
for the fruit at the orchard. 

Mr, Horace Day of New York, one of the first men to 
engage in the wholesale fruit business in that city, stated 
that the commercial prune was successfully grown in only 
three districts of the United States, and that of these three. 
Southern Idaho grew the best. His statement was based 
on experience he has had in handling fresh prunes from all 
parts of the world, covering a period of fifty years. It is 



72 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

on such judgment that I base my statement that Idaho 
leads in the Italian prune industry. 

In order to maintain this distinction of the commercial 
prune it is necessary that we follow a few fixed rules that 
have been worked out by years of experience in special- 
izing in this industry. Some years since it was thought 
necessary to set every fifth row in the orchard to French 
prunes for polonization. We have since learned this is un- 
necessary, and that while the French prune grows well 
here it does not sell so well in the commercial world. 
Again, trimming, spraying, and thinning are quite an 
overhead charge in many orchards; but not so with the 
Italian prune. When the tree is headed and started in 
proper form but little, if any, trimming is necessary. 

As to spraying up to the present time it has been neces- 
sary to spray for San Jose scale only. 

As to thinning of its fruit, the prune tree will carry 
only what it can mature, healthy trees shedding any sur- 
plus during the month of June. 

Having matured a crop it is the final and essential 
move to market them. Prunes are prepared in two ways 
for marketing, namely, packed in natural state, or by 
evaporation, the first being the most popular form. 

When the fruit has gotten its growth, water should be 
shut oflf from the orchard, as late watering causes early 
deterioration and such fruit will not carry well to the east- 
ern markets. At this time permit me to emphasize the 
fact that many make the mistake of too much water just 
before or at picking time. 

Prunes should be picked carefully, with stems on if 
possible. This is to avoid tearing the skins of the fruit. 
The fruit should then be allowed to cool off in the field 
boxes before packing, then carefully packed in the regular 
four basket crate. A standard export crate should be % 
sides, % bottoms, % ends, l^ tops and four cleats, all put 
together with 4d cement coated box nails, and for the New 
York market the Commissioner of Weights has decided 
that all packages of fruit of any kind whatsoever must 
have the net weight stamped on the outside, and if the 
package contains baskets, then the baskets contained there- 



Ma.nual of Horticulture, Idaho. 



PT.ATR VITI. 




ITALIAN PRUNE 



Prune Industry in Idaho . 73 

in must have the net weight stamped on each basket. From 
this you will see that it will be advisable to stamp the fol- 
lowing weights on each package: 

Boxes of pears, net weight 40 lbs. 

Boxes of apples, net weight 40 lbs. 

Half boxes of pears, net weight 20 lbs. 

Crates of prunes, plums and grapes 20 lbs. 

Each basket in crate, net weight 5 lbs. 

Crates of peaches, net weight 20 lbs. 

The net weight of all kinds of fruit will have to be 
followed out on the above schedule. We will say this or- 
dinance is going to be positively enforced, so we ask you to 
give this matter your earnest attention in order to avoid 
any difficulties that may arise on the dock if you do not 
meet the requirements. We do not know whether there 
would be a penalty or not, but we do know that in order to 
comply with the law each package must be stamped before 
it can be sold on that market. However, this rigid rule 
does not apply to all markets, but the one here quoted 
applies especially to New York, and since many of our 
growers ship their cars and divert in transit, it would be 
well to have every package marked. 

DRIED PRUNES. 

Much has been said in former years by way of ridicule 
of the much despised boarding house dried prunes, but 
with modern methods of evaporating, the prune has become 
known as a delicacy and is used by all modern housewives 
and in the highest class cafes and dining cars. Several 
methods of curing prunes have been tried and the better 
ones adopted, so that at the present time the Idaho Italian 
evaporated prune is not only sought for in the commercial 
world to be used as of old, namely, stewed prunes, but 
many are sold as a confection. As the quality of cured 
fruit advances, so has the price increased, until at the 
present time well cured evaporated Idaho Italian prunes 
sell readily at from six to eight cents per pound car lots, 
f. 0. b. loading station. This form of marketing prunes is 



74 State Board of Hortictdtural Inspe&tion 

annually increasing, and I here predict that in the near 
future our growers will realize the absolute necessity of 
providing themselves with evaporators as well as canning 
plants, with which to care for the imperfect or over-ripe 
fruit. Such plants could be built for a nominal sum and 
could be used through which to commercialize many of the 
by-products of the farm. 

SUMMARY. 

After having given twenty years of careful study and 
close observation to the Italian prune industry of Southern 
Idaho, I honestly feel that Idaho has a splendid future in 
this industry, and by carefully caring for the orchards so 
as to produce first quality fruit as nearly as possible, fol- 
lowing the growing in this careful manner by proper 
grading, and shipping only the fancy in the ripe state, and 
by treating all other grades by evaporating or canning, a 
cash market can be built up for this great nationally ad- 
mired fruit. 



CHAPTER XII. 
EUROPEAN GRAPES IN THE CLEARWATER VALLEY 

BY ROBERT SCHLEICHER. 
ADAPTABILITY OF THIS VALLEY TO GRAPE CULTURE. 

It is always a surprise to people unacquainted with the 
climate of the valleys of the Snake and Clearwater rivers, 
in Washington and Idaho, to be told that the tender foreign 
varieties of grapes (Vitis vinifera) grow there in as great 
perfection as they do either in California, Europe or Asia. 
This surprise is often so great that it degenerates into doubt, 
and can be removed only by ocular demonstrations. If one 
will take the trouble, however, to ascertain what is needed 
for the production of these varieties, he will find that this 
portion of the Pacific Northwest possesses those require- 
ments to such a degree as to make it an ideal climate for 
that purpose. 

A QUESTION OF CLIMATE. 

The culture of the grape, being of such great commercial 
importance over the larger portion of Europe, has received 
more scientific study and research than any other fruit. 
Through years of continued observation, French scien- 
tists have ascertained the number of degrees of heat and 
daily mean temperature necessary to cause the vine to 
leaf out; also the heat necessary to make it bloom, and 
again the daily mean temperature, and the amount of sun- 
shine required to ripen the fruit. They have found that it 
is important that for a month following the formation of 
the seed the mean temperature should not fall below 66 
degrees Fahr., that 65 degrees is the lowest at which grapes 
will ripen, that the mean heat of the period between the be- 
ginning of vegetation of the vine to the ripening of the 
fruit must be at least 59 degrees, and that the most im- 
portant season is twenty days prior to the ripening of the 



76 State Board of Horticultural Iiupection 

fruit, during which time the mean daily temperature should 
be 73.5 degrees. 

The valley at the confluence of the Snake and Clear- 
water rivers is therefore compared with the best known 
grape-growing centers of California. 

Count de Gasparino, who is called the founder of agri- 
cultural meterology, calls attention to the fact that not 
heat alone, but sufficient direct sunshine upon the plants 
is a requisite of perfect fruit ripening. The scope of this 
article does not allow of printing the comparative tables 
in full, but from the Signal Service reports we again find 
that in the number of clear days from April to October, 
Lewiston is exceeded by only one place in California. If 
we take into further consideration that, being nearly 10 
degrees of latitude further north than the points of com- 
parison in California, the increase length of days during 
the summer in these valleys gives an average of three-- 
quarters of an hour daily more sunshine. 

Prof. E. J. Wickson, in his "California Fruits," quoting 
Tyndall, says that a sheet of vapor acts as a screen to the 
earth, being in a great measure impervious to heat, and 
therefore, "it is not necessary that there should be clouds 
to lessen the chemical effects of sun heat in fruit ripening; 
not only do clouds intercept sunshine, but watery vapor in 
the air, when to the eye the sun is as bright as ever, can 
absorb a large quantity of effective rays and so retard 
fruit ripening. Hence, an apparently sunny country, which 
has much invisible watery vapor in the air, may prove 
defective in fruit ripening qualities." The following table, 
compiled from the report of the Chief Signal officer, gives 
the mean relative humidity of the places named from April 
to October: 

Lewiston-Clarkston 48.3 

Los Angeles, California 68.8 

San Diego, California 74 

Sacramento, California 60.9 

Fresno, California 49.8 

New York City, N. Y 72.5 

Cincinnati, Ohio 67.6 

St Louis, Mo 80.1 



European Grapes in the Clearwater Valley 77 

From the above it is seen that the Snake and Clear- 
water valleys have the least relative humidity. There is 
no doubt that to the excessive atmospheric humidity and its 
neutralizing effect on the sunlight, together with the lack of 
sunshine, is due the failure of the foreign varieties of 
jrrapes in the Atlantic states. 

Now, having shown that this climate possesses in an 
eminent degree all that is needed to make it perfect for 
grape-growing according to the requirements based upon 
researches of scientists, should any of these be fallacious 
or open to doubt, the fact remains indisputable that we 
produce in greatest perfection, not only the grapes that 
thrive in middle Europe, but those originated in Spain, 
Italy, Northern Africa and Asia; and we have no less 
authority than that of Colonel Brackett, Pomologist of the 
Department of Agriculture, who some years ago traveled 
out of his way to assure himself that grapes which were 
exhibited as Idaho grapes were really grown in Lewiston 
valley, and stated that after an exhaustive inspection of 
California vineyards, a few weeks previous to his visit, 
he had seen nothing there to excel, and little to equal, 
what he saw here. 

VARIETIES FOR DIFFERENT PURPOSES. 

The early plantings of grapes in this valley were 
mainly of Sweetwater and other Chasselas varieties, and 
Black Hamburg. While all of these, and especially the 
latter, are deservedly favorites for home consumption 
and shipment to near-by markets, their planting in the 
future is not to be recommended on any extensive scale. 
Commercial vineyards should be of those varieties which, 
besides being large and showy, have good keeping qualities 
and are hard enough of texture to stand shipment to dis- 
tant markets. The best known among them are: 

The Flame Tokay. While not of high quality, is of 
such large size, both in bunch and berry, and so attractive 
in appearance, and such a good shipper as well as immense 
bearer, that it has become the leading table grape shipped 
from California to eastern markets, where it outsells all 



78 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

other grapes. It colors and ripens remarkably well here, 
especially in elevated situations. Next in importance we 
would place the 

White Malaga. A very strong grower and heavy 
bearer, with good sized bunches of large berries, which, 
owing to the looseness of the bunch, is a better keeper than 
the Tokay and fully as good a shipper, but, not being so 
attractive in appearance, does not command quite so good 
a price. 

Rammonia of Transylvania. A late importation from 
eastern Europe which has proved itself a great success in 
the Snake and Clearwater valleys. It is a dark blue grape 
of immense size, not quite so good a shipper as the two 
foregoing, but which outsells all others wherever it has 
been marketed in the last few years. This variety is not 
grown in California to any great extent, probably because 
it was not introduced there, but has attracted more atten- 
tion to the grape-growing possibilities of this section than 
any other variety. 

Emperor. A large black grape of good shipping quali- 
ties, which has proven very unsatisfactory in some parts of 
California, and highly satisfactory in other parts; has 
been grown here for a number of years very successfully. 

Muscat of Alexandria. This is the only grape tried 
here which does not yield full crops regularly, owing to 
"coulure," or dropping off of the berries at blooming time 
in some seasons, yet is very valuable in locations where it 
thrives. It seems to do better on sandy river bottoms 
than on higher ground. 

Rose of Peru. While it ripens with the earliest, will 
hang on the vines until winter, and resists the damage 
done by the fall rains better than any others; is worth a 
place in any vineyard. It is not adapted to long shipment. 

Black Cornichon. Has come to the front in the last 
few years in California as a leading late-shipping grape. 
It is successfully grown here and will likely prove of good 
value. 

The list of good varieties which can be grown success- 
fully here is not by any means limited to the above, but 
they are the ones that have been planted most extensively 



European Grapes m the Clearwater Valley 79 

and have proven profitable. The writer has a collection of 
over fifty varieties on trial, from the hardiest grown in 
northern Europe to those originating in southern Europe 
and Asia, and a number of them have merits which make 
them deserving of more extensive planting. Notable 
among these is the Hunisa, a variety the cuttings of which 
were sent to the Department of Agriculture by a mission- 
ary from Aintab in Syria, in 1902, and reputed to be the 
best keeper of any grape known, being usually kept in 
good condition until March at its native home. This repu- 
tation is likely to be sustained in this climate, as far as 
on« can judge from two year's observation. 

SOIL, EXPOSURE, METHODS OF PLANTING, CULTIVATION, 
TRAINING, PRUNING, ETC. 

The different soils of this valley, from the sandy river 
bottoms to the loamy hillsides, have all proven themselves 
good for grape culture, and different analyses show them 
to contain in proper and liberal proportions every element 
required to grow abundant crops for many years to come 
without the aid of fertilizers. The vine, however, appre- 
ciates good, deep soil and will grow and bear fruit in pro- 
portion to its supply of it; and there are hillsides over- 
looking both the Snake and Clearwater rivers, overlaid 
with several feet of good, loose soil, rich in humus, a 
given area of which will probably, year after year, pro- 
duce twice as much as poorer lands having but a few 
inches of vegetable soil overlaying the hard-pan. The 
hillsides, besides having richer soil, have greater immunity 
from late spring and early fall frosts, and will no doubt 
prove the choice locations for future planting wherever 
water for irrigation can be brought onto them. 

Plowing to the depth of 12 to 15 inches will be sufficient 
preparation for vineyard planting on the sandy bottom 
lands, but on the higher lands where the subsoil is harder 
or underlaid with clay, following the turning plow with a 
subsoiler and thereby loosening the soil to the depth of 
20 inches or more will be found to prove a decided advan- 
tage, the good effects therefrom being appreciable for 
tight or ten years after planting. 



80 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

Either cuttings or rooted vines can be used for start- 
ing a vineyard, but while the latter cost several times as 
much as the former in cash outlay, when the uniform stand 
and more satisfactory growth of the rooted vines is con- 
sidered, it is good economy to use them. There is quite a 
difference of opinion as to the distance to leave between 
vines and rows in planting a vineyard, but usually more 
room is given now than formerly. For strong-growing 
varieties of table grapes, such as those named above, we 
would advise planting in rows, vines 8 feet, and the rows 
8 to 10 feet apart; the latter distance if it is expected to 
use two horses in cultivating. 

It is preferable in this climate to plant the rows north 
and south wherever practicable, as a protection of the 
crop from sunburn during the extreme heat of July and 
August. If, however, this is impracticable, the greatest 
care must be used not to do any summer pruning on the 
south side of the rows. 

It is advisable to use water in the holes in which the 
vines are planted, and if a good growth can be secured by 
cultivation alone without any more watering the same 
season, and even during the second one, the vines will 
develop a much better root system by striking deeper into 
the soil. 

It is a difficult and lengthy matter to lay down rules 
for pruning a vineyard, the scope of this article will not 
permit of it; but we might say to the intending planter of 
a vineyard that his knowledge of pruning will grow along 
with his vines if he will only give the subject careful 
thought and observe the practice of others. 

IRRIGATION. 

Irrigation of vineyards, and the amount of water 
needed, is a local and specific question, and depends upon 
the following two conditions, which are: The amount of 
the seasonal rainfall, and the character of the soil and sub- 
soil and its retentiveness. River bottom vineyards with 
loose, gravelly subsoils may need three or four irrigations 
a year, while side-hill plantations in loam with clay subsoil 
may raise a good crop with one irrigation, but with 



Manual of Horticulture, Idaho, 



PLATE IX. 




European Grapes in the Clearwater Valley 81 

thorough and timely cultivation implied in both cases. 
It will be safer to state, from results obtained from prac- 
tical experiments made here covering some twenty years, 
that an acre-foot of water, added to the rainfall, will be 
more than ample to secure a bountiful crop and keep the 
vines in the best of condition. This is about the amount of 
water, from 25 to 30 inches a year, that falls in the coun- 
tries which are considered the most fruitful in the world, 
with the advantage in this instance of the irrigation water 
being applied at the very time when it is needed, with very 
little waste by evaporation as compared with that which 
takes place when all the moisture is supplied by rainfall. 
In locations where water is plentiful in winter and scarce 
in summer, winter irrigation of vineyards has proven a 
great success; a thorough soaking of the soil during the 
dormant season, followed by good cultivation during the 
period of growth, with possibly one irrigation in July 
just before the ripening of the fruit, has given better 
results than several irrigations during spring and summer. 

MARKETS AND MARKETING. 

The supply of grapes grown in this valley having been 
limited up to the present time, the market has been re- 
stricted to near-by towns and cities, and while grape 
growing has been fairly remunerative, the profits to the 
grower will increase as the acreage planted in the valley 
becomes larger. The difference in transportation charges 
alone between express rates which the grower pays now, 
and car-load rates by freight, which he will pay when 
there are car-load lots to ship, is in most cases enough to 
make a difference of $150 per acre a year in the net 
profits. The demand for good grapes, covering a season 
of three or four months, is limited only by the supply 
of a good article, and, with transportation charges as 
low as those given California growers, this valley can 
claim the whole United States for a market. 

This section has suffered in the past, and is suffering 
yet, from unjust and discriminating express and freight 
rates, allowing California to lay down her products in the 



82 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

markets of the northwest at rates denied to the local 
growers. The attention of those in charge of making 
these rates has been called to their unfairness, and relief 
has been promised for the future. With all-rail communi- 
cation bringing Lewiston-Clarkston within 12 to 14 hours 
of Portland and the Sound cities, as against 40 and 50 
hours to the same places from grape growing points in 
California, it is but fair to assume that whenever this 
valley produces large enough quantities to supply those 
markets, freight and express rates will be made which 
will remedy the present most unequal conditions. 

WINE-MAKING. 

The experiments in wine-making, conducted here for 
some years, have resulted in notable success; the dry 
wines of the Sauterne and Rhenish types having been 
pronounced by connoisseurs as coming nearer to the Euro- 
pean wines than any grown in California. It has been 
known for hundreds of years that the best wines were 
produced near the northern limit of possible grape culture 
and mostly on the slopes overlooking large rivers. These 
conditions are met in an ideal way in the Lewiston-Clarks- 
ton valley. 

Wines produced here were given high awards at Buf- 
falo, St. Louis and Portland expositions, and no less an 
authority than the late Prof. George Hussman, of Napa, 
California, for forty years the leading writer in the United 
States on grape growing and wine making, and father of 
George C. Hussman, the present Pomologist in charge of 
viticultural investigations of the United States Department 
of Agriculture, writes under date of May 15, 1902, con- 
cerning a bottle of Idaho Sauterne sent him for his 
opinion: "I called in the best judge of wines we have 
here. We tasted it together and pronounced it a very good 
wine, equal to the best wines made in this county (Napa), 
which we claim makes the best dry wines in the state. It 
is a good sound wine which ought to sell anywhere among 
wine drinkers of the right sort ; wine which makes glad the 
heart. At my age (74) it is highly gratifying to me to 



European Grapes in the Clearwater Valley 83 

find that my efforts since 1850 in the cause of grape cul- 
ture and the making of pure wine have not been in vain." 

As these wines were made from grapes which have 
more of a reputation for table use than for wine making, 
and as none of the makers had any previous experience in 
wine making, in other countries, and as the encouraging 
results so far are due entirely to soil and climate, there is 
justification for the belief that when wines made here 
within the last two years, from grapes used in making the 
celebrated growths of France and Germany get age 
enough to develop their highest quality, there is a possi- 
bility of results that might realize the most sanguine 
hopes. At all events there is a splendid field for intelli- 
gent experimentation in this line, and it may not be too 
visionary to dream of the slopes and hillsides of the 
Snake and Clearwater rivers being in the near future 
covered with thrifty vineyards, drawing on the accumu- 
lated fertility of the past ages, and transforming it into 
wealth, as have those on the hills of the Rhine and the 
Moselle, the Rhone and the Garonne, the quality of whose 
products has inspired poetry and song for the past 
thousand years, and made them the wealthiest sections in 
the world. 

From an economic standpoint, the business of growing 
table grapes and that of wine-making go hand in hand, 
and every owner of a vineyard of any size should be 
prepared to take care of at least a small portion of his 
crop by pressing it into wine; or, if he has conscientious 
scruples in the matter, manufacturing unfermented grape 
juice, which has lately become an article of almost general 
consumption. 

Upon this, the moral side of viticulture, F. T. Bioletti, 
Assistant Professor of Viticulture in the University of 
California, who lately returned from a prolonged sojourn 
abroad on behalf of the viticultural interests of the state 
of California, made the following remarks before the State 
Farmers' Institute at Berkeley a short time ago: "No 
satisfactory reason has been given why the nations of 
southern Europe are more temperate than those of the 
northern countries, except that they drink wine instead 



84 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

of ardent spirits. Drunkenness, which is the curse of 
the country districts of England, Germany and Scandi- 
navia, is almost unknown in Spain, Italy and southern 
France, especially in the wine-producing districts. My 
contention is not that wine will not intoxicate, but sta- 
tistics prove that wine-drinking and sobriety go hand in 
hand, and whether or not wine has any direct influence 
in the cause of temperance, it certainly has no influence 
in the contrary direction. Anything which can be said 
against the use of wine by healthy, normal, human beings 
can be said with far more force and truth against the 
use of tea, coffee, or any of the numerous articles of 
our ordinary diet which, in excess, have deleterious 
effects." 

DISEASES OF VINES, PHYLLOXERA AND RESISTANT STOCKS. 

Grape-vines have been remarkably free from disease 
in this valley, mildew having so far made its appearance 
only for a season or two and having readily given way 
under the application of ground sulphur once or twice 
during the season. 

The much-dreaded phylloxera, which has raised such 
havoc in the vineyards of Europe and California, has 
fortunately not been brought here yet, and, if proper care 
be taken not to import any vines from districts infected with 
it, it can forever be kept out. The laws governing the im- 
portation of nursery stock into both Washington and 
Idaho, if properly enforced by the Fruit Inspectors of the 
several districts, will be ample protection. If, however, 
in spite of all precaution, it should make its appearance 
in this valley, recourse would have to be had to what 
has proven the most successful method of combatting it, 
the planting of resistant vines. A resistant vine is one 
which is capable of keeping alive and growing even when 
phylloxera are living upon its roots, and some of the 
wild vines growing in the Mississippi Valley have this 
quality. The fruit of these vines is, however, so undesir- 
able, that recourse must be had to grafting upon these 
roots vines of the varieties wanted, and thus use them 
only as stocks. This makes the initial cost of raising a 



European Grapes in the Clearwater Valley 85 

vineyard several times as high as when vines can be 
raised on their own roots. In spite of this increased cost 
at the beginning, it v/ould be true economy to plant new 
and extensive vineyards with resistant stocks but for the 
following reasons: While the European vine (Vitis 
vinifera) is remarkable among cultivated plants for the 
wide range of soils in which it will succeed — ranging 
from the lightest sands to the heaviest clays, from dry 
hilltops to low, moist plains — this is not the case with the 
resistant stocks. Some are suited to rich, moist soils, 
others only to dry, rocky ones. Again, there is a lack 
of affinity between the Vitis vinifera and some resistant 
stocks, certain varieties doing well on some stocks and 
refusing to bear on others. This leaves an intricate 
problem of adaptation and affinity to solve for each 
different locality, and, until this is done in a thorough 
manner, it would be too expensive and risky to make 
large plantings with resistant stocks. Under the direction 
of the Experimental Station of the University of Idaho, 
the writer is at present testing ten different kinds of 
resistant roots, also some grafted vines upon different 
stocks. These were procured from the University of 
California, with the kindly assistance of the viticulturists 
of that institution, selections being made which, from 
their experience, would be most likely to prove successful 
in this locality. These experiments, when completed, 
with others which are contemplated, will in all probability 
give the knowledge necessary to put the vineyards of the 
valley upon the best possible resistant basis, if there 
should arise the necessity for it in future years. This 
necessity need not arise, however, if planters will pro- 
cure their vines and cuttings from the vineyards here 
already in bearing, which are free from disease, and from 
which a list of varieties can be selected including the 
leading and best for the different purposes. 

FUTURE OF THE TABLE GRAPE BUSINESS. 

The Secretary of the California Fruit Shippers' Asso- 
ciation, in his report at the close of the very prosperous 



86 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

season of 1905, calls particular attention to the increased 
demand in the eastern states for California grapes at good 
prices, and recommends the planting of larger acreage to 
keep up with the expanding markets. 

In a late interview by the Sacramento Bee, Mr. A. B. 
Humphrey, a prominent grape-grower and shipper of 
Sacramento county, just returned from a four-months' 
tour of the eastern and middle western states, where he 
went for the purpose of studying the grape market, 
methods of handling the crop, of diverting cars in transit 
and the conditions that must prevail to continue the splen- 
did prices of the past seasons, says that he has returned 
stronger than ever in the belief of the impossibility of 
overdoing the table-grape market. 

In fact, the market for Tokays, Mr. Humphrey says, 
is practically in its infancy, so far as concerns the 
grower of Tokay of superior quality and color. It is 
the attractive color, the deep, rich crimson, that dealers 
first look for, and the Tokay that has this essential char- 
acteristic necessarily has the flavor. Mr. Humphrey ex- 
pressed surprise at the large number of eastern cities 
whose markets have never offered a California table grape 
for sale. 

Now, as every condition which works for the extension 
of the table grape industry in California applies as 
fully to this valley, both as regards the production of a 
superior article and the expanding markets, it is evident 
that no more profitable use can be made of every acre 
of land than planting it to choice table grapes, wherever 
the climatic conditions meet the necessary requirements. 

In this connection we might add that a grape exhibit 
from the Lewiston-Clarkston valley at the St. Louis Expo- 
sition in 1904 got as high an award as California, the 
coloring and flavor of the Tokays being admitted by 
California exhibitors to be equal to the finest their state 
could produce. 

A display made by a grower* of this valley at the 
Portland Fair, 1905, in competition with California, 



* This was Mr. Robert Schleicher. — [Ed.] 



European Grapes in the Clearwater Valley 87 

brought forth a letter from Prof. H. E. Van Deman, Ex- 
Pomologist of the Department of Agriculture, and Presi- 
dent of the Horticultural Jury at the Lewis and Clark 
Exposition. He wrote: "No doubt you have received the 
notice of what I awarded you, and I wish you could have 
had more than one gold medal, for you deserved it. You 
made the best grape display at the exposition. I was 
much pleased with the crispness and good flavor of some 
of the grapes you sent," etc., etc. 



INIiinual of HurLicuUurc, Idalio. 



Pi^ATK X. 




DELICIOUS APPLE 



CHAPTER XIII. 

SCIENCE OF GRADING AND PACKING APPLES- 
DIAGONAL PACK. 

By Roy C. Brock, Hood River, Oregon. 
(By permission of Better Fruit). 

Grading for both quality and size is so closely related 
to the packing of apples that it seems almost necessary to 
deal shortly with it. Grading should begin with the pick- 
ing of the fruit from the trees. Pickers, after having 
taken the fruit from the trees into pails, bags or other 
receptacles, should be required to empty them into the 
apple boxes, which are to be taken to the places for stor- 
ing, not by pouring, but by hand, and then as though 
each fruit was an egg. During this transfer the picker 
should look for fruits badly blemished, and place either in 
boxes or in piles under the shaded side of the trees, in 
order that they may be gathered and so disposed of as 
each grower's conditions will permit. The fruit so assorted 
may then be stored in the place for receiving them, and 
left until such time as the owner is desirous of packing, 
at which time the fruit should be carefully assorted in 
readiness for the packers. Of course the appliances used 
will largely govern the further direct plan of procedure. 
However, the writer, after carefully investigating the 
plans used in Wenatchee, Yakima, southern Idaho and 
Hood River, believes the most convenient plan for hand- 
ling, and the one that grings the best results as to saving 
of time, expense, labor and from general confusion, is the 
proper establishment of appliances as follows. (This 
refers to the handling of the average crop of from 2,000 
to 20,000 boxes of apples; either greater or smaller crops 
may require different plans of procedure) : 

In building a storing house with packing compartment 
thereto, the opening between the storing room and the 



90 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

packing shed should be made in the center of the side 
of the storing room, and not in the end of the building. 
By using the proper and most complete packing table all 
the materials needed in packing may be readily at hand 
and save considerable loss of the packer's time in waiting 
to be supplied with same. The packing tables should be 
equipped with proper and handy places for lining paper, 
layer board, wrapping paper, etc., and so arranged that 
the packer may have three diferent sizes before him at one 
time. For instance, while packer No. 1 is packing, say, 
72, 112 and 128, packer No. 2 may utilize the three prob- 
able other sizes that No. 1 cannot then use — 80, 88 and 96. 
As Packer No. 1 completes one of his numbers he has but 
to notice the size about completed by No. 2, and if the 
contents of the tables used by No. 1 and No. 2 show a 
sufficient quantity of the best sized apples used by No. 
2 in completing his nearly finished box. No. 1 may then 
commence a box of the same size, and likewise each other 
packer. In this way all the sizes may be kept cleaned 
from the tables and a packing of the different sizes dis- 
tributed to each packer in proper turn. Of course the 
most important feature of a successful packing crew is a 
perfect system. A complete system cannot be brought 
about by proper fixtures alone. In fact some very incon- 
venient packing sheds have, with careful thought of the 
foreman, brought out a system seemingly impossible to 
attain. 

Packing is the classification of fruits into their proper 
sizes by placing the fruits of the same size solidly into 
boxes in such a manner as to insure uniformity of appear- 
ance, neatness and protection from bruising. The pur- 
pose of careful packing is to make the box of fruit at- 
tractive as possible, and thereby receive the highest pos- 
sible price for it. 

There have been a number of different systems of pack- 
ing in boxes followed on the Pacific coast for a number 
of years, and this was brought about in an endeavor to 
adapt the size and shape of the fnmt to the size and shape 
of the box used in that particular locality from which 
the different systems originated. After a number of 



Science of Grading and Packing Apples 91 

years' experiment nearly all of the sections found it im- 
possible to suit the size and shape of the fruit to the 
box, so have rearranged their ideas and are now suiting 
the size and shape of the box to the size and shape of the 
fruit, and have reduced the systems practically to one, and 
in such a way that every size or shape of apple grown 
may be neatly and solidly packed by the use of two boxes, 
i. e., the Northwest Standard, (IOI/2XIIV2X 18 inside 
measurement, containing 2,176 cubic inches, without 
bulge) and the Northwest Special (10x11x20, inside meas- 
urement, containing 2,200 cubic inches, without bulge). 

At this point I wish to warn the purchaser of boxes 
against improperly made boxes, for there is nothing so 
distasteful to the trade as a poorly manufactured box. 
Do not buy apple boxes with heads less than three-fourths 
inch in thickness. Do not buy boxes with sides less than 
three-eighths inch in thickness. Do not buy boxes with 
top and bottom board thicker than one-fourth inch, for 
these must be thin and springy. Do not buy boxes unless 
the top consists of two pieces and the bottom of two pieces, 
with two cleats each for top and bottom. Do not use 
sides made of two pieces, even though tongued and 
grooved, for they are much weaker than single-piece 
material of the same thickness, and when a box is tightly 
packed will bulge, and as apple boxes should always be 
handled on the sides, when so handled will undoubtedly 
damage the fruit. This is also the reason for insisting on 
full three-eighths-inch thickness in these pieces. 

Returning to topic just left, both these boxes, North- 
west Standard and the Northwest Special, should, when 
packed, have a swell in the center of the box on both top 
and bottom of about three-fourths of an inch on each 
side. The manner of bringing this about will be dealt 
with later in this article, and thereby adds to the cubic 
contents of the box. 

The size of the apple is invariably determined by the 
diameter of the apple from cheek to cheek at the widest 
point, never from stem to blossom, hence the reason why 
an apple should never be placed stem or blossom-end 
toward the sides of the box. Hardly an apple is absolutely 



92 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

circular in shape at its greatest cheek circumference, and 
it is here that the packer may take advantage of this 
irregularity in packing Ben Davis apples, one of the most 
difficult of apples to pack, for the reason that they are 
about the same distance from stem to blossom as from 
cheek to cheek, and will not, v^hen turned, have brought 
about the results usually attained by turning in this 
manner. However, as before stated, if the packer will 
carefully save for the end of the boxes those even in a 
slight degree irregular and place at the ends so as to 
keep the apples lowest where they will not prove too 
high, and by the use of the more nearly circular ones 
through the center, a beautiful crown may be brought 
about. 

The diagonal system as used in the Northwest Stan- 
dard and Northwest Special boxes is made up of the fol- 
lowing sizes: 41, 48, 56, 64, 72, 80, 88, 96, 104, 112, 120, 
128, 144, 138, 150, 165, 175, 190, 200 and 225. 

The sizes 41, 48, 56 and 64 are largely used for exhi- 
bition purposes, although a few boxes of these sizes are 
packed of certain large growing varieties. You will notice 
that most of the packs are what are known as the two-two. 
In packing any one of these, start by placing one apple in 
the lower left hand corner and the other in the center of 
the space left from the cheek of the apple placed in the 
corner to the opposite side of the box. This will leave a 
space on either side of the apple last placed of equal 
width. Settle firmly back into the spaces then left two 
more apples in exactly the same relative position on the 
other side of the box. Continue this until the opposite 
end of the box is reached, where there will be a space 
which, by a firm pressure downward and toward the 
packer, will enlarge the space sufficiently to permit of 
the last two apples being fitted snugly into place and at 
the same time take all of the extra slack out of the layer. 
Begin the second layer by placing the first two apples 
into the two little pockets formed by the spaces and the 
first four apples in the first layer, and continue to the 
end of the box as in the first layer, ending up with last 
two apples in the pockets similar to those at the begin- 



Manual of Horticulture, Idaho. 
Courtesy of "Better Fruit." 



PLATE XI. 




Figure 1 — 56 Apples 
Northwest Standard Box 






Figure 2 — 72 Apples 
Northwest Standard Box 



Figure 3 — 72 Apples 
Northwest Standard Box 



Figure 4 — 80 Apples 
Northwest Standard Box 



Figure 5 — 96 Apples 
Northwest Standard Box 



Manual of Horticulture, Idaho. 
Courtesy of "Better Fruit." 



PLATE XII. 




Figure 1 — 9 6 Apples 
Northwest Standard B3x 



rPoQ 
o«o8 



OP.OH 



a-~r) 




Fig-ure 3 — 112 Apples 
Northwest Special Box 



DODO 

QOOO 

OOO 

ooo 

qqoo 
oooo 
oooo 
oooo, 



Figure 4 — 120 Apples 
Northwest Special Box 



Figure 5—128 Apples 
Northwest Special Box 



Manual of Horticulture. Idaho. 
Courtesy of "Better Fruit." 



PLATE XIII. 




Fig-ure 1 — 128 Apples 
Northwest Special Box 





CKQ-O 




WrP 
rK>b 



Figure 2 — 138 Apples 
Northwest Standard Box 




Figure .3 — 160 Apples 
Northwest Standard Box 



Figure 4 — 165 Apples 
Northwest Standard Box 



Science of Grading and Packing Apples 93 

ning of the second layer. Continue to build up the third 
and fourth layers in the same way as the first and sec- 
ond, always placing the apple in the pockets formed and 
never directly over the cheek of the apple below (except, 
of course, where necessary in the straight four-tier pack, 
which is as little used as possible, as it is very likely to 
bruise the fruit and create a blemish). 

Oftentimes, in order to keep the two-two pack from 
coming too high at the ends of the box on sizes ranging 
from 41 to 72, inclusive, particularly on the larger of 
these sizes, it is necessary, because of the length of the 
apple, to turn all the layers of the box so that the apples 
are either stem or blossom toward the top or bottom. 
Where apples are like the Wagener, or some of the other 
flat varieties, it sometimes becomes necessary to turn a 
row or two at one end of each layer in order not only to 
lower the ends but to fill up in length the space yet left, 
alternating so that the rows turned with tl-e stem or 
blossom toward the top or bottom of the box will be on 
layers Nos. 1 and 3, on the end of the layer farthest from 
the packer, and Nos. 2 and 4 on the end nearest the 
packer. The reason for turning in this way is that, un- 
til one layer is almost completed, it is hardly possible to 
know how many rows must be turned in each layer. This 
can be determined as the end of the first layer is reached, 
and in the same manner turning in each succeeding layer 
as above stated, first at one end and then the other. The 
reason for alternating the turnings of apples on each 
layer is that, should the nearest rows on each layer ana 
the farthest be turned and the rest on edge, it woufd 
make the ends too low, and the change from the turned 
apples to those cheeked abrupt and unsightly, besides al- 
lowing the cover to rest only against the cheeked apples, 
and allow an opportunity for the flat ones to become 
loose in the box. No definite rule can be given for turn- 
ing of apples in this way other than may be determined 
by trial of each variety. Should more than two rows be 
required to be turned it would either indicate that the 
packer was not making the rows fit snugly across the 
box or that the variety was decidedly flat and should be 



94 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

packed entirely on edge. This, of course, does not apply- 
to cases where all the apples are turned flat. Never 
turn an apple stem or blossom directly toward the side 
of the box. Often apples are partially turned in order 
to form pockets for the next ones, but this is not directly 
to the side and is permissible. Never pack apples on 
cheek at the end rows of the layer and flat in the middle of 
the layer. This will cause the ends to be high and the centers 
low. Ordinarily growers endeavor to find proper shapes of 
apples to do away with turning flat in order to make 
a uniform display of the cheeks. But commercially this 
is unnecessary, as the apples are entirely wrapped, and 
when inspected by prospective purchasers are usually tak- 
en from the sides of the box where all layers may be 
reached, and only a single apple at a time inspected and 
replaced. In this way no lack of uniformity of position 
is displayed. The straight four-tier packs, 96, 112, 128 
and 144, are to be avoided as much as possible for reas- 
ons as before mentioned. However, it is almost impossible 
to pack a crop of any size without using these packs. 
When they must be used be very careful to follow the 
outline just given as to turning the apples flat and never 
allow the four apples in each row to be loose from side to 
side of the box. This does not mean that they should be 
forced in so tight as to bulge the sides, but just tight 
enough that there will not be a space the thickness of a 
sheet of paper between them. I wish to state right here 
that the writer has had the teaching of many beginners in 
packing and has found beginners to have more trouble re- 
sulting from this one thing than from all others combined. 
Make the apples fit snugly across the box. The next 
greatest fault is in keeping the size of the apples the same 
in each box. Mr. Packer, if you do not have the size of the 
apple on the table that you are packing in the box either 
wait for more of the proper size or start the size you 
have on the table in another box. You will no doubt have 
trouble sizing them at first, but after a couple of weeks' 
steady and conscientious sizing you will find you feel almost 
like a veteran at it and will wonder why it was ever hard. 
Among other points for the beginner or the improperly 



Science of Grading and Packing Apples 95 

taught to remember is never to load the packing table with 
several boxes of apples at the same time. The more apples 
and the more sizes from which to choose the apple needed 
adds to the difficulty of choice, and this ordinarily will 
hold good for the packer of long experience, for you will 
very often find him rolling over a heap of apples trying to 
find the ones wanted when he has, right on the top before 
him, just the one wanted. Rolling and handling in this 
manner is injurious to the fruit. 

When the larger sizes have been packed, and it becomes 
necessary to pack those commonly known as the four and a 
half tier, the pack is started with three apples across the 
end of the box, one in each of the corners nearest the 
packer and one in the middle. Then place an apple in each 
of the two pockets t!tus formed and then three in the 
pockets next formed until the end of the layer is finished. 
This layer may end three across or two across, as the case 
may be, determined by the size of the apple used. How- 
ever, the next layer will start with two apples placed in the 
pockets formed by the first five apples and space. Continue 
this until the box is completed. It is found on most varie- 
ties that 138 and 150 are best packed flat through the en- 
tire box, always as in the large sizes of the two-two, using 
those shortest for the rows next to the end of the box and 
the longer through the centers. The 165 and 175 usually 
pack with part of the rows fiat toward the ends and centers 
on edge. These packs are all known as the three-two. 

The 200 and 225 are the straight pack of five-tier, and 
the same general plan will apply as is used in the 112 and 
128 where packed a straight four-tier pack. 

You will note by the following summary in which 
sizes are given and the boxes in which they are to be 
packed, also classified in tiers, that the purchaser would, 
upon reading the number of apples marked upon the box, 
immediately know the tier, but should the tier only be 
marked he would in each case have four guesses coming. 
The tier of boxes is entirely unnecessary, except possibly 
where the dealer might wish to cover up the fact that a 
three and a half tier was a larger apple than the purchaser 
had desired, or where a four and a half tier may be smaller 



96 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

than supposed. This practi'!e can only hurt the grower in 
the long run, and my advice is to use the number of apples 
in the box rather than the tier. 

Northwest Standard Box— 3-tier, 41, 48, 56, 64; 31/2 
tier, 72, 80, 88, 96; 4-tier, 112; 41/2-tier, 138, 150, 165; 
5-tier, 175, 190, 200, 225. Northwest Special Box— 4-tier, 
104, 112, 120, 128; 41/2-tier, 144. 

Should paper for lining, layer boards and wrapping be 
used care should be taken to have all as neat as possible. 
First line your box by taking two sheets of lining paper in 
one hand and holding at the ends with both, then place the 
left hand into the box in such manner as to let the end of 
the paper extend over the crack in the center of the box 
about one and one-half inches ; then carefully crease in the 
bottom crack at the bottom of the side; then crease down 
over the top of the side board. Then remove one of the 
sheets, and by fitting the crease made by the top of the 
one side board to the top of the other side board you will 
have a neatly creased paper with exactly the same lap on 
top and bottom. Then put in a layer board and commence 
with packing. In taking the wrapping paper use a rubber 
finger stole, which may be secured at any drug store, hold 
the palm of the hand downward and picking up the sheet 
of paper with the thumb and forefinger, but not turning 
the hand over, as seems most natural, hold in the same 
position as at the time of taking the paper and then place 
the fruit held in the other hand into the paper against the 
palm of the other, then the same hand to smooth the paper 
to fit the apple, giving a little twist to hold the apple in 
place. Then place the apple in the box with LTie ragged 
ends upward for two layers and downward for the re- 
maining layers. 

OFFSET SYSTEM, INCLUDING THE SQUARE PACK. 

The writer here wishes to repeat one paragraph of the 
foregoing article, namely, the definition of packing: 
"Packing is the classification of fruit in the proper sizes 
by placing fruit of the same size solidly into boxes in such 
a manner as to insure uniformity of appearance, neatness 



Manual of Horticulture, Idaho. 



PLATE XIV 




Manual of Horticulture, Idaho. 



ri.ATE XV. 




i » 




Manual of Horticulture, Idaho. 



PLATE XVI. 



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Science of Grading and Packing Apples 97 

and protection from bruising. Tlie purpose of careful 
packing is to make the box of fruit as attractive as pos- 
sible to the purchaser and obtain thereby for it the highest 
possible price." 

Generally speaking, the diagonal system is considered 
more acceptable to the trade than the offset system. How- 
ever, there are several advantages to the grower who is a 
beginner in the business and v/ishes to get out the best 
possible pack with packers who are not experienced. With 
the diagonal system it is much easier to vary the size of the 
fruit used in each box from the bottom and center layers 
without materially spoiling the appearance on top. The 
inexperienced grower or foreman would, therefore, be led 
to believe from the surface appearance that the under 
layers had been packed as they should have been. The 
poor work would, however, be undoubtedly discovered on 
opening the box at its final destination and complaint made 
by the parties inspecting it. With the offset system a 
single apple of improper size will bring about a condition 
through the general pack and on the surface layer that 
cannot possibly be covered up. On the other hand, when 
both systems are properly used the diagonal is more to be 
desired for the reason that fewer of the apples come in 
sizes known as straight packs, i. e., 45, 54, 63, 112, 128, 
144. In the offset packs the spaces show on the sides of 
the box, where they have a disagreeable effect upon the 
eye of the purchaser. 

The offset system used in the Northwest Standard box 
(101/2x11 1/2x18 inches inside measurement,) and the 
Northwest Special box (10x11x20 inches, inside measure- 
ment), is made up of the following sizes: 41, 45, 54, 63, 
72, 84, 96, 112, 128, 144, 160, 180, 200, 225. The sizes 
41, 45, 54 and 63 are largely used for exhibition purposes, 
although a few boxes of these sizes are required to be 
packed for the larger growing varieties. In packing the 
size 41 start by placing the first two apples in the bottom 
corners of the end nearest the packer, placing a single 
apple in the crotch or pocket left between the two before 
placed. Now place an apple in each of the two crotches 
formed by the apple last placed and the sides of the box, 



98 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

and so continue until the last two apples have been firmly 
wedged against the end of the box away from the packer. 
Start the second layer by placing an apple in the pocket 
formed by the three first apples in the first layer at the 
end of the box nearest the packer and then follow with 
two apples, one in each of the center pockets formed by 
the two apples of the first layer, the one just placed in the 
second layer and the sides of the the box. Continue this lay- 
er, ending with a single apple at the end of the box farthest 
from the packer in the same relative position as that of the 
first apple in the second layer of the box. The last layer will 
begin and end with two apples at each end and will really 
mean an apple in each of the four upper corners of the box. 
The 41 size of pack will always come on edge or cheek. 

Size 45 in the standard, 64 and 63 in the special are 
considered among the straight packs and consists of three 
layers deep, three apples wide and vary nine apples each in 
contents. Occasionally one row of apples at end of each of 
the two layers in the 45 and 54 sizes require to be turned 
flat in order to keep the apples from being too high at the 
end and sufiicently snug in length. Further explanation of 
these packs is surely unnecessary. 

Sizes 72 and 84 are the sizes in this system of packing 
from which the name "offset" was taken. Start the first 
layer of these two sizes with three apples of the same size 
firmly together, cheek to cheek, with the stem or blossom 
toward the head of the box, with the first of the three in 
this row firmly against the left hand side of the box. Each 
of the other apples in the row directly against the cheek 
of the one next in the same row, leaving all the space in the 
same row between the last of these apples and the right 
hand side of the box; in the pocket thus formed place the 
first apple of the three constituting the second row, leav- 
ing the alternate space on the left hand side of the box. 
Continue each of the rows in the same manner, alternating 
the space first on the right hand side and then on the left 
hand side until the last row is forced into this relative 
position, sufficiently tight to key the whole layer. Start 
the second layer by placing the first apple of the first 
row in the pocket formed by the space in the first row of 
the layer. Place the next two apples of the first row of 



Manual of Horticulture, Idaho. 



PLATE XVII. 




Science of Grading and Packing Apples 99 

the second layer cheek to cheek against each of the others, 
leaving a space on the left hand side of the box, alternating 
each space and row from this first space and row in the 
second layer until the second layer is completed. Con- 
tinue each of the two following layers in the same manner 
until the pack is finished. In no case, in an offset size, 
lay an apple directly over another; always place the apples 
so that they will come over the pockets or semi-pockets 
which are formed by two or three apples, and possibly one 
side of the box. 

The 72 size nearly always packs best for length and 
height flat, unless the apple is very flat, when it will more 
than likely pack as an 84, all on edge or cheek. The 84 
usually packs on edge, except with occasional one or two 
rows on one end of each layer, which may require to be 
turned to make length in the layer and proper height in 
the end. In turning these rows alternate, turning the last 
one or two rows in the first and third layers at the end 
farthest from the packer, and in the first one or two 
rows in the second and fourth layers at the end nearest to 
the packer. The 96 and 144 sizes, almost without excep- 
tion, pack on edge or cheek, are four apples wide, fitting 
the box snugly with absolutely no pocket or space next to 
the side boards and none at the end. It is four layers deep, 
and occasionally, with very flat apples, the 96 size is 
packed as an offset pack all on cheek. 

Sizes 160 and 180 are offset packs and are packed in the 
pretty thoroughly discussed in the writer's former article, 
and on referring to it a full description may be had. 
Sizes 160 and 180 are offset packs and are packed in the 
same manner as 72 and 84, except that there are four 
apples to each row and five layers to the box. Sizes 200 
and 225 are straight packs, as 112, 128, 144, and the 
same general plan is followed in their packing. Sizes 200 
and 225 are five apples to each row and five layers deep. 

The same general rules are given in the description of 
the diagonal pack in the article last season and should be 
studied, together with the diagrams and descriptions herein 
given. Sizes 41, 45, 72, 84, 96, 112, 160, 180, 200 and 225 
are packed in Northwest Standard boxes; sizes 54, 63, 
128 and 144 are packed in Northwest special boxes. 



]Maiiual of llorUculture, Idaho. 



PLATE XVIII. 





COMICE PEAR 



CHAPTER XIV. 

PRINCIPAL INSECTS INJURIOUS TO FRUITS 
IN IDAHO. 

COMPILED BY J. U. MCPHERSON. 

All insects have in their natural habitat enemies which 
prey upon them and thereby control, to a great extent, the 
increase and damage done by them. When man, by 
changing the natural conditions, disturbs the equilibrium 
of nature, many kinds of insects increase rapidly and prey 
upon the cultivated crops and trees, thereby rendering 
necessary artificial means of control. As with other lines 
of agriculture, the horticulturist, in order to achieve suc- 
cess, finds that he must wage a constant warfare upon 
insect pests. 

The insects injurious to fruits in Idaho are numerous. 
The fact that we have been bringing into Idaho numbers of 
fruit trees, vines and plants from different parts of the 
United States and foreign countries, well explains why we 
have so many injurious insect pests to contend with. For 
many years great quantities of nursery stock of every 
description were brought within our borders without in- 
spection of any kind, without a warning hand to stay, 
without any measure of relief for damage already done, 
and in many cases without a semblance of honesty on the 
part of the dealer with regard to the stock being free 
from these most damaging and pernicious insect pests. 
With almost a mania for fruit and tree planting, the very 
ones who sought to build up and advance the cause of 
horticulture in our state, unfortunately brought the pests 
here. 

The two insects which cause the greatest damage to the 
fruit crops of the state are the San Jose scale and codling 
moth. Other pests of less importance are the large family 
of aphides, several kinds of scale, peach and apple borer, 
pear and cherry slug, red spider, pear blister mite, etc. 
Following will be found a brief description of many of 



102 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

these pests with their life history, together with the 
remedies for their control. 

SAN JOSE SCALE. 

(Aspidiotus perniciousus) . 

Perhaps no other fruit insect pest has been so widely 
discussed as the San Jose scale, and it has undoubtedly 
been the cause of more legislation, both in this country 
and abroad, than any other insect pest known. In fact, 
as a result of the importation of this scale, insects have 
assumed international importance and occupy a prominent 
place in the regulation of commerce; and there is much 
legitimate basis for this interest and publicity. 

Had it not been for the introduction of this trouble- 
some pest it is doubtful if Idaho, up to the present time, 
would have had a horticultural law. Yet the San Jose 
scale is no longer feared in Idaho, as it has been definitely 
settled that spraying once a year with lime and sulphur 
solution, if properly done, will keep the infested plants 
practically free from scale. 

Other results have followed the spread of the San Jose 
scale. In fighting this insect the orchardist has made 
himself familiar, not only with the San Jose scale, but has 
absorbed much useful information along the line of insect 
control and of modern methods of taking care of the 
orchard. 

The injury done by the San Jose scale is the absorption 
of the juices of the tree or plant, the scale insect in its 
relation to its food plant being a mere pumping machine 
which is continually extracting the sap from its host. 
For this purpose it inserts its long, slender beak or pro- 
boscis deeply into whatever portion of the plant it may be 
resting upon — bark, leaf or fruit. While the amount of 
sap extracted by a single insect is very small, when mul- 
tiplied by millions it greatly depletes the juices of the 
plant, and will, in a few years at most, cause the ultimate 
death of the tree or plant. 

The insect winters in the larval state, usually about half 
grown, both sexes being found. Probably in the fore part 



Manual of Horticulture. Ttiaho. 



PLATE XIX. 




San Jose Scale. — (Aspidiotus perniciosus). Infected fruit and branch 
and enlarged scales [Howard]. From Bulletin No. 34, New Series, by Na- 
than Banks, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Bntomologry. 



Principal Insects Injurious to Fruits in Idaho 103 

of June (depending upon weather conditions) the females 
become fully developed, and instead of producing eggs, 
begin to bring forth living young. That is to say the 
species is vivaparous. While very minute, the young are 
not yet visible to the naked eye, and, by sharp inspection, 
during the breeding season may be seen running about on 
the leaves, twigs and fruit. In color they are usually 
bright lemon-yellow. They have six well developed legs, 
also antennae and eyes, and are highly organized in com- 
parison to the degraded condition soon to be assumed. 
After finding a suitable situation (often within a few 
minutes of the time of their emergence from beneath the 
old scale, though sometimes not for a day or two) they 
settle down, thrust their long, slender, hair-like beaks into 
the plant, and immediately begin growth. The first 
evidence of this growth is the secretion of waxy filaments 
from the upper surface of the body, which mat down and 
form the beginning of the scale covering. The waxy 
secretion continues during the life of the insect, and the 
scale is thus enlarged as the insect increases in size. The 
male, after molting, becomes winged, and though very 
frail in form, has the power to fly from tree to tree, and 
with a favorable wind may be carried a considerable dis- 
tance. The females undergo two molts, and the skins 
thrown off in these molts attach to the scale and form a 
definite part of it, being cemented closely to it with the 
wax. The female insect, after the second molt, soon 
reaches full size, and when fertilized by the male begins 
to develop her numerous progeny of young. The female 
insect, having once thrust her beak into the tissues of the 
plant as a larva and begun the secretion of a covering 
scale, never moves from her position, and, in fact, if she 
be removed by force is never able to penetrate the bark 
again with her sucking beak, and thus soon perishes. The 
opportunity for the local spread, therefore, of these insects 
is limited absolutely to the first larval stage, differing 
in this respect from most sucking insects, which have the 
power to move and change their position until nearly the 
end of their growing period. The number of young pro- 
duced varies with the season, a less number being gen- 



104 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

erated in unfavorable than in favorable seasons of the 
year. The progeny from a single parent insect in a 
year, on the supposition that they should all survive, 
would represent almost inconceivable numbers, running 
into billions. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that 
the plants become thoroughly infested in a very short time. 

REMEDY FOR THE SAN JOSE SCALE. 

The waxy covering of the San Jose scale makes it nec- 
essary to use washes strong enough to penetrate the 
scale and destroy the protected insect beneath. 

The proper time to spray for the scale is in the dormant 
season, using the lime and sulphur solution (Formula 
No. 1). If the trees to be sprayed have a very rough bark, 
this should be scraped off in the same manner as indicated 
under the heading "Codling Moth." After many years of 
experimenting in nearly every state in the Union, the 
spray commonly known as the lime and sulphur spray is 
conceded by all to be the best, although there seems to be 
some difference of opinion as to the amount of each 
ingredient necessary to get the best results, and also as to 
the exact time and manner of preparing the spray. But 
the workers in Idaho have practically agreed that the 
somewhat modified formula used according to the direc- 
tions as given in this bulletin, will do the work in a satis- 
factory manner. 

The last few years have brought into the market ready 
made solutions of lime and sulphur, sold under different 
brands, as Rex, Niagara, etc. These mixtures have proved 
very popular, and have practically superseded the use of 
home-cooked mixtures. The preparation of such sprays 
under usual orchard conditions was an arduous, disagree- 
able task, and the prepared mixtures have been welcomed, 
in spite of the slight excess of cost. The only objection 
to the use of these prepared mixtures has been the 
tendency on the part of the manufacturers to recommend 
them in too weak a solution. It has been found by many 
experiments conducted over a period of many years that 
it requires a strength of 3 per cent of sulphur to kill 



Principal Insects Injurious to Fruits in Idaho 105 

the scale under all conditions, and the commercial mixture 
should not be reduced in proportions which will reduce its 
strength below this point. 

OYSTER SHELL BARK SCALE. 
(Mytilaspis pomorum) . 

The oyster shell bark scale is a rather long insect, 
tapering toward the head and resembles very much some 
forms of oyster shells — hence the name. The oyster 
shell bark scale is a less dangerous insect pest than the 
San Jose scale. It does not multiply so rapidly, there 
being but one brood each year. They are not born alive 
as is the San Jose scale, but develop through the egg 
state. The mother scale lays perhaps fifty or sixty eggs 
late in the fall under the scale that has protected her 
during her life, and these eggs begin hatching, usually 
during the fore part of June, although weather conditions 
govern somewhat the time of hatching. The young 
immediately insert their beaks and begin extracting the 
sap of the tree. 

REMEDY FOR THE OYSTER SHELL SCALE. 

While this pest is not nearly so dangerous as the San 
Jose scale, yet it is harder to destroy on account of its 
breeding habits. Lime and sulphur solution (Remedy 
No. 1) applied as late as possible — just as the buds begin 
to open — may kill a portion of the scale; but whale oil and 
kerosene (Remedy No. 6), or whale oil and quassia chips 
(No. 8) applied frequently while the young are emerging, 
has proved the most effective. 

THE CURTIS SCALE. 

(Aspidiotus ostreaeformis) 

This scale somewhat resembles the San Jose scale and is 
viviparous, or produces young alive. It is somewhat 
rougher than the San Jose scale and the nipple-like center* 
is surrounded by a whitish ring. This insect is usually 
taken for the San Jose scale and only by close examination 



106 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

can they be told apart. It does not seem to multiply so 
rapidly as the San Jose scale and is much more susceptible 
to the attacks of native enemies. 

This scale is found in only a few localities in the state. 

REMEDY FOR CURTIS SCALE. 

Apply lime and sulphur solution (Remedy No. 1) in 
the dormant season. For summer spraying use whale oil 
and kerosene (No. 6) or whale oil and quassia chips 
(No. 8). 

THE PUTNAM SCALE. 

(Aspidiotus ancylus). 

This is a native scale and is found most frequently on 
Cottonwood. It sometimes attacks fruit trees but seems to 
be held in check by its natural enemies and does but little 
harm. 

REMEDY FOR PUTNAM SCALE. 

Use lime and sulphur solution (Remedy No. 1) in the 
dormant season. 

ROSE AND BERRY SCALE. 

(Diaspis Rosae), 

This scale is larger than most other scales, and is almost 
entirely white, which makes it quite conspicuous and very 
easy to find. It is confined mostly to roses, blackberry and 
currant bushes, and shrubbery. 

REMEDY FOR THE ROSE AND BERRY SCALE. 

Use lime and sulphur solution (Remedy No. 1) in the 
dormant season. 

THE CODLING MOTH. 

(Carpocaspa pomonella L.) 

The codling moth, or apple worm, is a familiar pest to 
every grower or consumer of apples; and a wormy apple, 
the result of its work, scarcely needs description. The 



Principal Insects Injurious to Fruits in Idaho 107 

larva, living most of its life within the fruit, throws out 
through its entrance hole, which it enlarges from time to 
time, or through its exit hole in the side of the fruit, the 
characteristic mass of frass or excrement which is the 
sign of infestation. Such an apple is practically unsalable. 
At best it brings a very small price, either for consumption 
as fresh fruit, or for the manufacture of by-products. 
The monetary loss thus occasioned by this insect is 
greater than that due to any other insect pest affecting 
fruits. It has been shown by careful estimates in various 
apple growing states that this insect, when unmolested, 
may cause a loss of from 20 to 100 per cent of the fruit 
which would otherwise be sound and merchantable. This 
loss estimated on the lowest or 20 per cent basis would 
amount annually to many million dollars in the United 
States, and this does not include the expenditures for 
spraying trees with arsenicals amounting to millions 
more. Great as this loss still is, it has been very much 
limited by measures of control which are becoming more 
and more widely adopted, and many apple growers in 
badly infested regions are now saving every year more 
than 85 per cent of fruit which would, without treatment, 
be wormy. ! ' ! '" | '^5 

DISTRIBUTION. 

The original home of the codling moth was probably 
southeastern Europe, the home of the apple, but it has 
followed closely upon the distribution of the apple until 
it is now found in almost every country in the world. It 
is spread principally by the shipping of the infested fruit. 
The young larvae in such fruit complete their development, 
and leaving the fruit, spin cocoons in nearby places. The 
moths emerge in due course and fly to the nearest tree to 
deposit their eggs. When orchards are but little distances 
apart the moths fly from one orchard into another. 

FRUITS INFESTED. 

The apple is the natural food of this insect, and sustains 
almost all the loss occasioned by it. Pears are next in 



108 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

order of infestation, but if apples are present in the same 
orchard pears are usually not badly infested. The codling 
moth larvse have been found also in the fruit of the 
quince, prune, plum, peach and cherry, but never in 
sufRcient numbers to cause any great injury. 

LIFE HISTORY. 

The apple grower cannot be too strongly impressed with 
the necessity of familiarizing himself with the life history 
of the codling moth, so that he will understand the prin- 
ciples of its control which are based on certain vulnerable 
points in its life cycle. It is undoubtedly the worst of our 
fruit pests, causing annually an immense amount of loss, 
although many of our commercial orchardists are alive 
to the situation and are doing excellent work, keeping up 
to 99% of their crop of apples free from worms. 

Hibernation. — The codling moth passes the winter in 
the larval stage in silken cocoons, hiding in cracks and 
holes in the trees, and in houses where apples have been 
stored. In the spring these larvae change to pupse, and 
the moths emerge about a month after the apple tree is 
in blossom. 

The Moth. — The full-fledged codling moth is but little 
known among fruit growers, and other moths are often 
mistaken for it. It varies somewhat in size, but the 
maximum spread of its wings is about three-fourths of an 
inch. The front wings are of a brownish-gray color and 
are crossed with lines of gray scales, giving them the 
appearance of watered silk. At the tips of the wings 
there is a large brown spot, in which are many scales of 
bronze or gold. The hind wings are grayish-brown in 
color. Taken as a whole, the coloring of the moth is such 
that when resting on old grayish bark it is so like the 
bark that it is not easily distinguished. The moth lays her 
eggs a few days after emergence from the cocoon, on the 
leaves of apple or other food plants, or on the fruit. The 
eggs of the first generation are usually laid on the leaves 
surrounding the apple cluster, while the greater part of 
those of the second generation are laid upon the fruit. 



Manual of Horticulture, Idaho. 



PLATE XX. 




Figure 1 — Tlie Codling- Motli : (a), the moth or adult insect, slightly 
enlarged; (b), the egg greatly enlarged: (c). the full-grown larvae 
slightly enlarged; (d) the pupa, slightly enlarged; (e) the pupa m its 
eoc-oon on the inner surface of a piece of bark, reduced about one- 
half; (f), moth on bark and empty pupa skin from which it emerged, 
about natural size. (Original). . 

Codling Moth. — From Farmers' Bulletin No. 171, by permission U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, Division of Entomology, by C. B. Simpson. 




Fig. 2. --Woolly Aphis (Schizoneura lanigera. (a) aga- 
mic female; (b) larva; (c) pupa; (d) winged female. 
[Marlatt]. From Bulletin No. 34, New Series by 
Banks, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of 
Entomology. 



Principal Insects Injurious to Fruits in Idaho 109 

The Egg. — The eggs are very minute, scarcely visible 
to the naked eye. They are pearly white in color, resem- 
bling thin convex disks. Around the edge there is a 
coarse network of ridges, while toward the center these 
ridges are finer. A red ring which indicates the embryo 
or developing larva, appears in the egg a few days after 
it is laid and may be easily seen with a good magnifying 
glass. 

Through the following methods our most successful 
orchardists have succeeded in the fight against the codling 
moth in keeping each year from 75 to 99 per cent of 
their fruit free from the marks of the worm. 

In fighting the codling moth it is advisable to destroy 
all larvse before they have time to become mot.hs. The 
store rooms or other places where apples have been kept 
should be gone over and all the larvae destroyed; rubbish 
and trash should be removed from the orchard and 
burned; all boxes and other places where the worm might 
hide should be thoroughly examined and the worms killed. 
In February or March shovel away the earth around the 
tree to a depth of three or four inches; (this is necessary 
as many of the worms find refuge in the bark and cracks 
just under the surface of the ground). Then take a 
heavy piece of muslin or canvas and hem one side over a 
strong cord; tie this tightly around the tree close to the 
ground; scrape off all rough bark, clean out all cracks 
where the worms might be in hiding, clean out all holes, 
smooth all cuts and broken places, fill all sharp angles or 
holes with cement or plaster of Paris; gather up this 
refuse and burn it. In this way, if the work is thoroughly 
done, the most of the worms will be destroyed. 

BANDING. 

Banding the trees is one of the essentials for the con- 
trol of the moth, as well as giving aid in determining 
the proper time to spray. About four weeks after the 
blossoms fall put on the bands. The band should be of 
somewhat fuzzy texture, double, and wide as convenient, 
(about four inches will do). It should be long enough to 



110 state Board of Horticultural Inspection 

pass around the tree and lap over two or three inches. 
Drive a box nail into the tree, letting it stick out about 
one inch ; cut the head off the nail with a pair of clippers ; 
fasten one end of the band on the nail; pass it around 
quite closely and fasten the other end. After the worms 
begin to appear under the bands they should be examined 
and the worms killed every ten days until the fruit is 
packed. After this allow the bands to remain until all the 
straggling worms have gone under the bands, which is 
usually some time in December. If the trees are very 
large and have limbs near the ground, it is well to band 
each limb as well as the trunk. 

SPRAYING. 

Given an efficient spraying material, the question of 
how to spray and when to spray becomes all important. 
For years it was thought best to hold the nozzle toward 
the tree and with a force of about 80 pounds pressure, 
allow a fog to settle upon the tree, stopping the spraying 
as soon as the tree began to drip. Among the more 
progressive this method has been abandoned for the use 
of a driving spray thrown under a pressure of 175 to 200 
pounds, spraying (for the first spray at least) from above, 
from below and from the side, straight into the calyx cup, 
thoroughly wetting the tree from top to bottom. 

Experiments and close observations show that the bulk 
of eggs of the first brood of codling moth and many of 
the eggs of the second brood are laid upon the whorl of 
leaves which surrounds each cluster of fruit. When the 
worm hatches, it immediately seeks the fruit, generally 
feeding upon the leaf before it reaches the fruit. The 
first brood of worms as a rule enters the calyx after the 
calyx has closed. In order that the poison may be in the 
calyx ready for the worm when it appears it is necessary 
to spray while the calyx is still open. The calyx com- 
mences to close immediately after the petals drop, and 
if the weather is warm, closes very quickly, the time 
varying, according to weather conditions, from five to ten 
days. It can thus be seen that with large orchards very 



Principal Insects Injurious to Fruits in Idaho 111 

quick work must be done with this first spraying, and it 
well behooves the grower to have pumps in order and 
material on hand, in order that no time may be lost. 

To determine the date of second spraying a few larvae 
should be caged and the date of change to moth noted, and 
spray applied about ten days after the change from pupae 
to moth, at which time the first worms would hatch. 

For third spray the bands should be watched and spray- 
ing done twenty-five days after the first worm appears 
under the band, to be followed two weeks later with the 
fourth spray. 

In the last bulletin issued by this department the use 
of tried and well known methods was recommended. 
Reference was made to the popular thought that one spray 
would be sufficient, but our recommendations were to 
spray at least three times, and in badly infested orchards 
to use what may be called supplementary methods. As 
the years have gone by the advocates of the one spray sys- 
tem have grown less in number until now it is generally 
accepted that from two to four sprays are wisest. To 
those who wish to try the one spray only, we will repeat 
what we said in the former bulletin referred to above. 
The grower should spray thoroughly at the proper time, 
which is when the calyx cups are still open; then band 
enough trees to make a practical test, taking oflf bands 
every ten days and keeping careful count of the number 
of worms found. If the trees average one first brood 
worm under the band of the tree, do not neglect the 
third and fourth sprays. If less than an average of one 
appears the grower might be justified in abandoning the 
later sprays. 

For the experienced orchardist in an orchard not badly 
infested the previous season, the use of spray alone would 
be sufficient, but to the inexperienced grower, or where the 
orchard was very badly infested the preceding season, we 
still unqualifiedly recommend the use of bands and the 
cleaning of the trees. There is an additional precaution 
which should be used by all whenever thinning of the 
fruit is done, that is, while thinning, to destroy the worm- 
infested fruit. 



112 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

REMEDY. 

Use arsenate of lead (Remedy No. 4), Paris green, 
(Remedy No. 2), or white arsenic (Remedy No. 3), as 
recommended above. 

THE PEACH TWIG BORER. 

(Anarsia Lineatella Zell) 

The peach twig borer is apparently an Old World 
species and probably a very ancient enemy of the peach, 
doubtless coming with this fruit from western Asia. It 
was described in Europe in 1830, and in this country in 
1860. The American species was afterward shown to be 
identical with the European peach moth. It has been very 
injurious at times to peach trees in the peach growing 
sections of the east; on the Pacific slope its injuries have 
taken a wider range, including damage to the apricot, 
almond, nectarine, prune and perhaps other fruit trees, 
in addition to the peach. 

The injury occasioned by this insect is limited princi- 
pally to the work of the hibernating larvae during the 
latter part of April and first of May, when they bore into 
the shoots of new leaves, killing the growing terminals 
and preventing the development of the branch, although 
sometimes a whorl of living leaves may remain at the base. 
Much of the new growth of the tree is often killed, in 
many instances the branches remaining with scarcely a 
bud or shoot which has not been thus destroyed. This 
necessarily results in greatly checking the vigor and fruit- 
ing capacity of the tree, and causes an irregular and 
knotty growth. 

The summer broods of larvae feed beneath the bark or 
in the fruit stems, and occasionally, when nearly full 
grown, bore into the fruit ; but such damage is not ordinar- 
ily noticed and is slight as compared with the injury 
occasioned by the first hibernating brood larvae. 

LIFE HISTORY AND HABITS, 

The fall brood of larvae may be taken as a convenient 
starting point in the life history of the peach twig-borer. 



Manual of Horticulture, Idaho. 



PLATE XXI. 




Fig. 1. — Mytilaspis pomorum. (a, b), females: (c) 
scale on twig; (d), male scale [Howard]. 

Bulletin No. 34, New Series, by Banks, U. S. De- 
partment of Ag-riculture, Division of Entomolog-y. 




Fig. 2. — Anarisa lineatella: (a), twig of peach, 
showing in crotch minute masses of chewed bark 
above larva chambers; (b), latter much enlarged; 
(c), a larval cell, with contained larva; (d), dorsal 
view of young larva more enlarged (original). 

Peach Twig Borer — From Farmers' Bulletin No. 80, 
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Entom- 
ology. 



Principal Insects Injurious to Fruits in Idaho 113 

In the fall they appear as a very small larvae, living and 
working in the spongy bark, chiefly at the crotches of the 
branches of the peach, and it is surmised that they are 
developed from eggs deposited in these situations. 

While in their winter quarters the larvse are subject 
to the attacks of predaceous mites, and many of them are 
destroyed by this means. They are also occasionally 
parasited by a chalcidid fly. 

Early in April the larvae begin to abandon their hiber- 
nating quarters and attack the new leaf shoots, but some 
individuals have been found in the crotches as late as 
April 21. The damage becomes noticable, as a rule, at 
the time the shoots are from one-half inch to two inches 
in length, or, more properly speaking, mere clusters of 
newly expanded leaves. 

It is our observation that the larvae begin to migrate 
only after the new foliage has begun to show. They 
attack the new shoots at any point, generally, however, 
from one-half inch to an inch from the apex, either near 
or in the crotch formed by the leaf petiole and the stem. 

When working in the succulent new growth the larvae 
bores rather rapidly, sufficiently so at least to excavate 
a burrow two-thirds of its length in an hour. The length 
of time spent by the hibernating larvae in coming to full 
growth in the green shoots is comparatively short, not 
exceeding ten to fifteen days. 

The larva on reaching full growth spins a scanty web, 
(in no sense a close cocoon) in the leaves and rubbish 
about the trees, or in the trees themselves, in the dried 
and shriveled leaves of the injured shoots, or it attaches 
itself exposed on the twigs or bark. After thus securing 
itself the larva immediately pupates, becoming a brown, 
rather robust chrysalis. In midsummer these transforma- 
tions are very quickly accomplished. A larva which 
webbed up June 29, pupated July 1, and the adult 
emerged July 8. 

It is very difficult to find the pupae in orchards, as the 
larvae hide in all sorts of places. They conceal themselves 
in the crotches of the branches, between dried leaves, and 
about small peaches likely to drop off. 



114 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

The chrysalis stage lasts from seven to ten days, and 
the moths of the first brood begin to appear early in May 
and continue to emerge throughout this month and into 
June. 

The adult moth is less than half an inch in length, 
expanding a little more than half an inch, and is of a 
beautiful dark gray color, with darker spots on the 
forewings. 

The newly deposited eggs are white in color and irides- 
cent, but before hatching become distinctly orange. They 
measure about four- tenths of a millimeter in length by 
two-tenths of a millimeter in breadth, are somewhat ovoid, 
and are lightly attached lengthwise to the twig by a 
glue-like material. 

The newly hatched larvae measure about one millimeter 
in length and are of a very pale yellow color, with the 
head and vervical and anal plates black and the thoracic 
legs dusky. 

At the time of the appearance of the first brood of 
moths during the month of May, the fruit of the peach is 
of considerable size, especially by the end of the month, 
but is green, hard and densely hairy, and is probably 
rarely if ever chosen by the parent moths as a nidus for 
eggs. 

REMEDIES FOR PEACH TWIG BORER. 

It has been observed that where the lime and sulphur 
solution has been used for scale it has very materially re- 
duced this pest. All other recommended methods of con- 
trol, such as spraying with arsenicals and cutting the in- 
fested twigs, have been found inadequate. The lime and 
sulphur spray applied in the dormant season will not en- 
tirely eradicate the borer, but will reduce its numbers to 
the minimum, and this method is unqualifiedly recom- 
mended as the only practical remedy. 

PEACH TREE BORER. 

(Sannina exitiosa). 
The peach tree borer is quite destructive at times on 



Principal Insects Injurious to Fruits in Idaho 115 

young or newly set trees. The eggs are deposited on the 
tree near the surface of the ground and when hatched 
the young borer enters and burrows under the bark, 
wmding here and there, sometimes entirely girdling the 
tree and thereby causing its death. They may also occur 
on other pit or stone fruit trees. As the insect increases 
size it eats the sap wood or tender portion of the tree 
beneath the bark, causing a copious exudation of gum 
around the base of the tree, which is easily seen. It 
sometimes attacks the tree higher up in a crotch or where 
there may chance to be a scar of any kind, but is always 
easily found by the exudation of the gum from its borings. 

REMEDY FOR THE PEACH TREE BORER. 

As a preventive young trees should be wrapped with 
heavy strong paper, letting the paper extend from two 
to three inches under the surface of the ground up to the 
first limbs. The top of the paper should be tied tight 
enough to keep the mother beetle from entering. Keeping 
the trees thoroughly coated during the summer with a very 
strong mixture of lime and bluestone is also very good. 
Frequent applications of the mixture should be made. 
After the borer has once entered the tree the only remedy 
is to cut it out. If this is done soon after it enters the 
tree may be saved. 

THE FLAT-HEADED BORER. 

(Chrysobothris femorata). 

The flat-headed borer is by far the most common of the 
borer type of insect. The mother beetle lays the eggs, if 
on a small or newly set tree, at or near the surface of the 
ground; but if on an older tree, usually where a scar of 
some kind occurs. This scar may be well up in the larger 
branches. 

The larva when young is of a whitish green color, but 
becomes almost a clear white as it advances in size and age. 
It eats its way into the bark and sap of the tree, making 
irregular channels or chambers under the bark, often 
girdling the young tree and causing sure death. Where 



116 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

the insect is at work beneath it the bark turns quite dark, 
and the castings from the worm may be seen at openings 
in the dead bark, thus plainly indicating its workings. 
This pest is sometimes very bad among the newly-set 
apple orchards, causing an immense amount of damage. 
It is much worse some seasons than others. It bores deep 
into the heart of young trees, and takes from one to 
three years, according to the rapidity with which it 
develops, to complete the cycle of life. 

REMEDY FOR THE FLAT-HEADED BORER. 

The flat-headed borer is very hard to combat, no remedy 
being entirely effective in controling this pest, although 
any of the following will sometimes relieve the situation 
somewhat and a combination of the lime, sulphur and 
blue vitriol wash and protectors will reduce the damage to 
a minimum. 

The lime, sulphur and blue vitriol wash is made of 
equal parts of lime, sulphur and blue vitriol thoroughly 
cooked and used at the consistency of a good whitewash. 
Before painting trees with this mixture the dirt at the 
base of the trees should be removed, exposing two or 
three inches below the surface of the ground, then paint 
the bottom up to the first limbs. This work should be 
done early in May, as the eggs are laid by the mother 
beetle in the latter part of May and the larvae hatched in 
June, the time varying according to weather conditions. 
The object of this wash is to keep the mother beetle away 
from the tree through its offensive odor. The use of one 
01 the various forms of tree protector is also an assistance. 
For this purpose paper is sometimes used, although the 
usual protector is some sort of wood veneer. The yucca 
palm is probably the best, as it is very porous and allows 
some circulation of air, which prevents the scalding of the 
tree. The use of tarred paper should be avoided, as it is 
very heating and often causes destruction of young trees. 
In case of a combined use of the wash and a protector, the 
tree should not be painted on the lower part. The protec- 
tor itself will keep the beetle from that part of the tree. 



Principal Insects Injurious to Fruits in Idaho 117 

and the wash under the upper part of the protector will 
repel the mother beetle from crawling inside the pro- 
tector. 

THE PEAR AND CHERRY SLUG. 

(Eriocampa cerasi) . 

The pear and cherry slug wasp lays her eggs usually 
in the latter part of May or the first part of June, on the 
leaves of the pear and cherry tree. The larva when first 
hatched is of a greenish color, gradually turning to a 
shiny black as greater size and age are attained. The 
larva when full grown is about three-fourths of an inch 
long and is covered with a slime something like a snail, 
to which dust and dirt will readily adhere. It feeds 
mostly on pear, cherry and quince, eating away the pulp 
on the top side of the leaf. It very seldom eats entirely 
through the leaf; yet it causes the leaf, if badly eaten, to 
wither away and dry up. In some years these pests are 
very destructive. 

REMEDY FOR PEAR AND CHERRY SLUG. 

While the pear and cherry slug is very easily controlled 
with an application of arsenic (Remedies Nos. 2 and 3, 
or No. 4), it so happens that with cherries it appears just 
about picking time, when it is not desirable to spray, as 
this would cover the fruit with spray and injure its 
appearance for market. The slug is now found in all 
fruit sections and can be expected to appear nearly every 
year, and therefore any grower having cherry trees should 
spray with an arsenical spray at least a month before 
picking time, thus having the poison ready for the insect 
without injury to the fruit. The pear and quince can be 
sprayed at any time. If only a few trees are in the 
orchard, frequent applications of fine road dust, ashes 
or air-slaked lime are effective, as such substances adhere 
to the insects and dry them up. 

! 

APPLE OR GREEN APHIS. 

The apple or what is commonly called the green aphis 



118 State Board of Horticulturoi Inspection 

is the most conspicuous and probably the most troublesome 
of the aphis family. That they do serious injury at times, 
especially to young fruit trees, cannot be questioned. The 
egg is laid in the late fall season by the mother insect, 
mostly on apple and pear trees. If on the apple, you may 
look for them near the ends of last season's growth. If 
on the pear tree you may look for them on somewhat 
larger limbs and in and around the crotches. When first 
laid they are of a greenish brown color, gradually turning 
to a shiny black. They winter over in this stage and the 
eggs begin hatching with the early warm days of spring. 
They have been noted already hatched as early as the 
11th of February, and the insect has been known to lay 
eggs as late as the 25th of December. The insect soon 
inserts its proboscis and begins sucking the sap of the tree 
or plant. It is wingless, and usually remains so, but 
grows rapidly and soon begins to produce living young. It 
is sometimes called a "stem-mother" because it is the 
source from which numerous generations issue during the 
season. All the young born of this stem-mother are. like 
herself, without sex; that is, they are neither males nor 
sexually developed females. The rate at which they are 
born varies, but as many as eight living young have been 
born from a single specimen in twenty-four hours and it 
is common to find a great cluster of ten or twenty of the 
young ones clustering around the mother louse. The con- 
ditions of the weather have much to do with the increase 
of this insect. Warm, damp weather is most favorable 
to its rapid increase, while cold, frosty weather in early 
spring is unfavorable and sometimes has much to do with 
checking and reducing the sum total for the season. Under 
favorable conditions the young that were first brought 
forth are in turn ready to reproduce in six or eight days; 
and thus it will be seen that many generations are brought 
forth in a season. In almost any generation after the 
first, a portion of the individuals may become winged and 
fly to other plants or trees and there form into colonies. 
Just what causes some of them to become winged and 
others to remain wingless is not known; but whether 
winged or wingless they are all equally without sex during 



Principal Insects Injurious to Fruits in Idaho 119 

the entire summer months. Upon the appearance of cold 
weather in order to provide for the continuation of the 
species during the winter months sexed forms are devel- 
oped, and in a few days the egg laying season is on and 
thus the cycle of life and reproduction is completed. 

We have a great variety of aphis and each variety 
has a host plant upon which to feed; and what has been 
said of the apple or green aphis holds good in a measure 
for all the others. They all winter in the egg state except 
the woolly aphis, which winters, in both the live and egg 
state, on the roots of the apple tree mostly. There are 
two forms of them, the branch form and the root form. 
However, they are one and the same kind of insect. The 
fact that they work down the roots deep into the ground 
makes it more difficult to control them and in some cases 
they become very numerous and do serious damage to 
young fruit trees, sapping away the juices of the roots and 
leaving the tree in an enfeebled condition. 

We also have the plum or prune aphis and the peach 
and cherry aphis, which at times do considerable harm. 
The eggs of the plum, peach and cherry aphis are not so 
large and prominent as the eggs of the green apple aphis 
and are laid in more secluded and sheltered places and 
are therefore not so easily found and recognized. 

Many other kinds of aphis of minor importance are 
found and some of these species are very numerous on 
shade and forest trees. 

There are several types of natural enemies to the aphis 
in Idaho; the principal ones are Ladybugs (ladybirds), 
Syrphus Flies, Lace-Winged Flies and Parasitic Flies. 

Use lime and sulphur solution (Remedy No. 1) during 
the dormant season, for destroying the eggs and whale oil 
and kerosene or whale oil and quassia chips (Remedied 
No. 6 or No. 8) for summer spraying. 

THE WOOLLY APHIS OF THE APPLE. 

(Schizoneura lanigera Hausmann). 

GENERAL APPEARANCE AND METHOD OF WORK. 

Throughout the summer on the lower portion of the 



120 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

trunk and particularly on the water sprouts of the apple 
may often be seen small bluish-white flocculent or cottony 
patches, which indicate the presence of colonies of one 
of the worst enemies of the apple, viz.: the insect vari- 
ously known in this country as the "apple-root plant 
louse," "woolly apple louse," "woolly aphis," etc., and 
abroad very generally as the "American blight." It exists 
in two forms, the one just referred to, above ground on the 
trunk or water shoots, and another inhabiting the roots 
and not open to observation. Closely paralleling in these 
particulars the grape phylloxera, the damage from the 
woolly aphis is also almost altogether due to the root form, 
the aerial colonies causing scarcely any injury. On the 
roots its attacks induce enlargements or galls or swellings 
very similar to those produced by the phylloxera, and in 
the cracks of these galls and swellings the root form 
occurs in clustered masses. The injury to the trees is 
due both to the sucking up and exhaustion of the vital 
plant juices, and to the poisoning of the parts attacked, as 
indicated by the consequent abnormal growths. 

The damage is particularly serious in the case of 
nursery stock and young trees and is less often important 
after the tree has once become well established and Ox 
some size. Where the insect is abundant all the roots of 
a young tree to the depth of a foot or so become clubbed 
and knotted by the growth of hard, fibrous enlargements, 
with the result, in a year or two, of the dying of the 
rootlets and their ultimate decomposition with attendant 
disappearance of the galls and also of the aphides, so that 
after this stage is reached, the cause of the injury is often 
obscure. On the trunks the presence of the aphides some- 
times results in the roughening of the bark or a granu- 
lated condition which is particularly noticable about the 
collar and at the forks of branches or on the fresh growth 
around the scars caused by pruning, which latter is a 
favorite locaiton. On the water shoots the insects collect 
particularly in the axils of the leaves, often eventually 
causing them to fall, and on the tender greener side of the 
stems. The damage above ground, though commonly insig- 
nificant, is useful as an indication of the probable existence 



Manual of Horticulture, Idaho. 



PLATE XXII 





Fig-. 2. — Flat-headed 
Apple Tree Borer: (a, b, 
d) larva. pupa and 
adult. twice natural 
size. 



Fig. 1 — F, The Cottony Maple Scale, 
Natural size. 







Ti o 

. CD 

d _ 









be" 0) 



Principal Insects Injurious to Fruits in Idaho 121 

of the aphides on the roots. A badly attacked tree assumes 
a sickly appearance and does not make satisfactory growth 
and the leaves become dull and yellowish, and even if not 
killed outright it is so weakened that it becomes especially 
subject to the attacks of borers and other insect enemies. 
Injuries from the woolly aphis are almost altogether con- 
fined to the apple, even the wild crab not being so liable 
to attack or at least injury by it. There is, however, 
some difference exhibited by different varieties of apple 
in immunity, and particularly is the Northern Spy proof 
against it, and it is possible that, as in the case of the 
grape phylloxera, by employing root stock from seedlings 
of the more resistant varieties or from wild crabs, consid- 
erable protection would result. The character of the soil 
also exerts some influence — that is, loose dry soils are 
favorable and wet compact ones are unfavorable to the 
aphis. 

ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION. 

There is considerable difference of opinion as to the 
origin of the woolly aphis of the apple. The belief has 
fluctuated between a European and an American origin 
for this insect, but the weight of evidence seems to indicate 
the latter. At any rate, it is an insect which is most 
readily carried from place to place with nursery stock of 
the apple, and it has been so transported to practically all 
the important countries of the world which have been 
reached by colonization or European settlement. The 
woolly aphis was first noticed in England in 1787, on 
some stock imported that year from America, and was 
early called the American blight. Hausmann described 
it in 1801 as infesting apple trees in Germany, and within 
the next twenty-five years it was recognized as a serious 
enemy of this fruit tree throughout England, Belgium, 
northern France, and Germany, but it seems never to 
have been especially notable in the warmer latitudes of 
Europe. 

It was very early introduced into Australia and New 
Zealand, and it is known in India and Chile, and probably 
is as widespread as any of the common injurious fruit 



122 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

pests. Notwithstanding- the possibility of its being a native 
American insect, it did not attract attention in this country 
much before 1850. Its spread since has, however, been 
rapid, and it now occurs practically wherever the apple 
is grown. It has been reported to this Bureau from no 
less than thirty-five states and territories and nearly one 
hundred localities. It is particularly abundant and in- 
jurious in the latitude of the Ohio valley. While seemingly, 
therefore, somewhat affected by severe cold, it is able to 
thrive in the climate of the northern tier of states on the 
one hand, and in that of Louisiana, New Mexico and 
southern California on the other. 

NATURAL HISTORY AND HABITS. 

In common with most aphides, this species has a com- 
plicated life history, some of the details of which are still 
lacking. The common forms, both on the roots and above 
ground, are wingless aphides, not exceeding one-tenth of 
an inch in length, and of a reddish-brown color, and 
abundantly covered, especially in the aerial form, with a 
flocculent waxy excretion. These are so-called agamic 
females and reproduce themselves by giving birth, as 
observed by many entomologists, to living young indefin- 
itely, perhaps for years, without the intervention of other 
forms. The newly-born larvae have none of the white 
excretion, which, however, soon appears as a minute down 
when they begin to feed. These aphides are also peculiar 
in lacking the honey tubes common to most aphides, but 
exude the honey-dew from the tip of the body. In 
October or November, or earlier in the south, among the 
wingless ones numbers of winged individuals appear, 
which are also all females, and are the parents, as shown 
by the observations, partly unpublished, of Messrs. Howard 
and Pergande, of a true sexed generation of minute, wing- 
less larviform aphides, the females of which, as in the 
case of the grape-root aphis, give birth to a single "winter 
e^^" The egg is attached within a crevice of the bark, 
and, probably, following the analogy of the phylloxera, 
hatches in the spring into a female aphis which originates 
a new aerial colony. 



Principal Insects Injurious to Fruits in Idaho 123 

The winged females appear somewhat abundantly in 
autumn, and are one of the means of the dispersal of the 
insect. They are very minute, clear-winged, gnat-like 
objects, greenish-brown, almost black in color, with the 
body covered with more or less of the cottony excretion. 

The aerial colonies are probably killed out every winter 
in the colder northern districts, but in the warmer lati- 
tudes the partly grown individuals, at least, survive pro- 
tected in crevices or under bits of bark, and remain more 
or less active during winter and renew the colonies the 
following spring. This has been shown to be true in the 
District of Columbia, and also in the interior regions of the 
same latitude, in spite of the much colder winters. The 
root form survives the winter usually in an immature con- 
dition, viz. : larvse in various stages of development, and 
both in latitudes where the aerial forms are killed by the 
severity of the winter and elsewhere it seems probable 
that there is a regular upward migration in spring and 
early summer from the roots, the aerial colonies appearing 
first near the crown and at a later period on the higher 
parts of the trees. At any time during the summer and 
fall there may be migrations to the roots, and throughout 
the year the subterranean colonies are maintained. 

The spread of the insect is accomplished in part by the 
viviparous females, which appear in late summer, but 
quite as commonly perhaps by the transporting of young 
or partly grown individuals from tree to tree or to distant 
orchards by means of birds or insects to which they have 
attached themselves. Its wide distribution is usually de- 
pendant on the traffic in nursery stock. 

REMEDIES AND PREVENTIVES. 

The foregoing account of the habits and characteristics 
of the woolly aphis will enable us to suggest certain meas- 
ures to control it. The aerial form presents no especial 
difficulty, and can be very readily exterminated by the use 
of any of the washes recommended for aphides, such as 
kerosene emulsion, a strong soap wash, resin wash, etc., 
the only care necessary being to see that the wash is put 



124 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

on with sufficient force and thoroughness to penetrate 
the covering and protecting cottony excretion. If the 
wash be applied warm, its penetration will be considerably 
increased. 

The much more important root form, however, is more 
difficult to reach and exterminate. No known remedy will 
absolutely eradicate the root form, but several remedies 
are very effective and will keep this aphis under control. 
When woolly aphis is found on nursery stock the stock 
should be destroyed and only clean trees planted. When 
found on older trees in numbers sufficient to cause damage, 
the best remedy is the lime and sulphur solution used in 
same strength as for the San Jose scale. The ground 
should be removed at the base of the tree, exposing the 
larger roots for a distance of a foot or two all around the 
tree. About five gallons of lime and sulphur spray should 
then be poured onto the roots and the dirt replaced. If 
the infestation is very bad there should be several applica- 
tions during the season. One pound of lime dissolved in 
five gallons of warm water can be used in the same way. 
A liberal application of tobacco refuse placed around the 
tree a few inches under the surface of the ground is also 
highly recommended, but the lime-sulphur solution is 
unquestionably the best known remedy. 

THE GRAPE VINE PHYLLOXERA. 

(Phylloxera Vastatrix). 

Historical. — The phylloxera is a native of the United 
States east of the Rocky Mountains, where it is found liv- 
ing upon the wild vines. It is a minute insect related to 
the scale insects and plant lice. 

The Insect. — The phylloxera occurs normally in four 
forms : 

1. The gall insect, or form of multiplication. 

2. The root insect, or form of devastation. 

3. The winged insect, or form of colonization. 

4. The sexual insect, or form of regeneration. 

The gall insect lives upon the leaves, and is the com- 
monest form on the wild vines in the native habitat of the 



Principal Insects Injurious to Fruits in Idaho 125 

insect. It rarely occurs in California. In Europe it is 
found often upon American but rarely upon European 
varieties. It causes little swellings or galls upon the 
leaves and younger parts of the vine, which, though some- 
times very numerous, do little permanent injury. The 
chief danger from the gall form is that it multiplies with 
astonishing rapidity and migrates from the leaves to the 
soil. Here it attacks the roots and gives rise to the root 
form, the "form of devastation" the one that finally 
destroys all the vines it attacks which are non-resistant. 
Every insect of the root form which reaches maturity 
lays about 25 or 30 eggs, each of which is capable of de- 
veloping into a new egg layer needing no fertilization. As 
there are from five to seven such generations during the 
year, the increase in numbers is extremely rapid. 

Sometimes during the summer, usually July or August, 
some of the eggs laid by the root insects develop into 
insects of slightly different form, called nymphs. They 
are somewhat larger than the normal root form and show 
slight protuberances on the sides, which finally develop 
into wings. These are the winged or colonizing insects, 
which emerge from the soil, and, though possessing very 
weak powers of flight, are capable of sailing a short dis- 
tance, and if a wind is blowing may be taken many rods, 
even miles. Those which reach a vine crawl to the under 
side of a leaf and deposit from three to six eggs. These 
eggs are of two sizes, the smaller of which produces males, 
the larger females. The female, after fertilization, mi- 
grates to the rough bark of the two-year-old wood, where 
she deposits a single egg called the winter egg, which 
remains upon the vine until the following spring. The 
insect which hatches from this egg in the spring goes 
either to the young leaves and becomes a gall-maker, or 
descends to the roots and gives rise to a new generation of 
egg laying root-feeders. The normal and complete life 
cycle of the phylloxera appears then to be as follows. Male 
and female insects (one generation in autumn) ; gall in- 
sects (one-fifth of the first generation while the vines are 
in leaf) ; root insect (an unknown number of generations 
throughout the year) ; nymphs, which become winged 



126 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

insects (one generation in midsummer). The gall stage 
may be admitted, as it generally is in California, and 
insects which hatch from the fertilized eggs laid by the 
female go directly to the root and produce offspring, which 
are indistinguishable from the root form produced in the 
normal cycle. For how many generations the root form can 
exist and reproduce without the invigoration supposed to 
come from the production of the sexual form is not known, 
but certainly for four years and probably more. 

All forms of the phylloxera are extremely minute, the 
root form being about one-twenty-fifth of an inch long 
when it reaches the adult egg-laying state, and little more 
than half this length when young and active. It is just 
large enough to be seen by the unaided eye in a good light 
when its appearance is known, and, by the help of a glass 
magnifying five diameters, its legs and antennse are 
plainly visible. Its color is light greenish yellow in sum- 
mer, and somewhat darker in winter; so that when 
numerous attacked roots appear as though dusted in spots 
with powdered mustard or cinnamon. The newly hatched 
insect is fairly active, and at first moves about from place 
to place on the roots; but finally, when it reaches the egg- 
laying stage, it inserts its sucking-tube into the root and 
remains fixed. 

Nature of Injury. — The amount of nutriment taken 
from the vine by such minute insects, even when present 
in the immense numbers in which they sometimes occur, 
is not sufficient to account for the disastrous effect upon 
the plant. The death of the vine is due to the decay which 
sets in wherever the phylloxera has attacked the roots. 
Wherever a phylloxera inserts its sucking-tube a swelling 
is produced, composed of soft tissue which soon decays. 
When this swelling ocurs at the end of a young rootlet, 
growth in length is stopped; when it occurs on the larger 
roots a kind of "cancer" or decay spot is finally formed, 
which soon extends around the root, and all that portion 
of the root below the point of attack dies. 

During the first year or two after the vine is attacked 
there is little apparent damage. In fact, the effect of the 
attack of the phylloxera is equivalent to root pruning, and 



Principal Insects Injurious to Fruits in Idaho 127 

in some cases results in an unusually large crop of grapes. 
The year after this crop, however, the vine having endured 
the double strain of heavy bearing and root injury, is 
unable to recuperate and generally dies. In rich, moist 
soil the death of the vine is not so sudden, and two or 
even three small crops may be obtained after symptoms of 
the disease are evident. 

So far as is known we have had phylloxera in but one 
locality in the state and that is in and around Juliaetta, 
Latah county. It occurs on the European varieties and so 
far as known it has only appeared as a root insect. A 
good portion of the vineyards have been pulled up and it 
has almost, if not entirely, been eradicated. It is well to 
be on the lookout for it, however, in the different parts of 
the grape growing districts. 

REMEDY FOR PHYLLOXERA. 

The gall form of phylloxera on American vines can 
be prevented by spraying the vines in winter with liquids 
to kill the winter eggs; but the treatment has no effect on 
the root forms, which in California hibernate abundantly 
in the soil. No cuttings should ever be used from an in- 
fected vineyard, and all vines within a radius of 50 feet 
from the infested vine should be dug up and burned, not 
allowing any vegetation of any kind to grow for a year or 
two. If a vineyard has become infested to any extent, the 
only sure remedy known is to destroy the infested vine- 
yard. If the disease is allowed to continue it means the 
destruction of all vineyards in the neighborhood. 

THE CLOVER LEAF MITE. 

(Red Spider). 

The clover leaf mite is more commonly known in the 
state as the Red Spider. It belongs to the sucking or haus- 
tellate species and is so small that it is hardly discernable 
to the naked eye. In shape it very much resembles the 
spider and it very often weaves an exceedingly fine and 
compact web, generally on the under side of the leaf — 
hence the name "Red Spider." 



128 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

The color of the insect is most often red, but it varies 
on different plants from almost a clear white to a brilliant 
red; so also with the color of the eggs. The insect is 
quite lively and moves about from place to place sucking 
the sap from the leaves of the plant. There are sometimes 
hundreds of them on a single leaf. They are worse on the 
prune tree than on any other of the fruits^ but they inhabit 
nearly all kinds of shrubbery, plants and vines. They are 
especially bad on rose bushes and sweet peas. They are 
sometimes very troublesome on house plants. 

The effect of their work may be easily noticed in the 
pale, sickly appearance of the plant upon which they feed. 
The fact that they inhabit so many different plants makes 
it very hard to bring them under control. 

REMEDY FOR THE CLOVER LEAF MITE. 

In order to destroy the clover leaf mite use lime and 
sulphur solution (Remedy No. 1) in the dormant season 
and whale oil and kerosene (Remedy No. 6) in the grow- 
ing season. 

THE PEAR LEAF BLISTER MITE. 

The pear-leaf blister mite appears in early summer and 
causes thickened reddish spots and blotches on the leaves 
of the pear. Later in the season these spots die and turn 
brown, sometimes causing the foliage to drop prematurely. 
This pest proves serious on individual trees but does not 
spread very rapidly. 

REMEDY FOR THE PEAR LEAF BLISTER MITE. 

As a remedy for the pear leaf blister mite the use of 
lime and sulphur solution (Remedy No. 1) in dormant 
season will prove effective. 



Manua-I ui' HortieulLure, Idaho. 



PLATE XXIII. 




WEALTHY 



CHAPTER XV. 

PRINCIPAL FUNGUS DISEASES OF FRUITS IN 

IDAHO. 

COMPILED BY J. U. MCPHERSON. 
THE CAUSE AND PREVENTION OF PEAR BLIGHT. 

There is probably no disease of fruit trees so thoroughly- 
destructive as pear blight, or fire blight, which attacks 
pears, apples and other pomaceous fruits. Some diseases 
may be more regular in their annual appearance, and more 
persistent in their attacks on the fruits mentioned, but 
when it does appear pear blight heads the list of disas- 
trous maladies. Again, no disease has so completely baffled 
all attempts to find a satisfactory remedy, and, notwith- 
standing the great progress made within the last ten years 
in the treatment of plant diseases by spraying or other- 
wise, pear blight has until recently continued its destruc- 
tion unchecked. 

WHAT IS PEAR BLIGHT? 

Pear blight may be defined as a contagious bacterial 
disease of the pear and allied fruit trees. It attacks and 
rapidly kills the blossoms, young fruits, and new twig 
growth, and runs down in the living bark to the larger 
limbs, and thence to the trunk. While the bacteria them- 
selves rarely kill the leaves (at the most only occasionally 
attacking the stems and midribs of the youngest ones) all 
of the foliage on the blighted branches must, of course, 
eventually die. The leaves usually succumb in from one 
to two weeks after the branch on which they grow is 
killed, but remain attached, and are the most striking and 
prominent feature of the disease. 

The most important parts of the tree killed by the 
blight are the inner bark and the cambium layer of the 
limbs and trunk. Of course, when the bark of a limb is 



130 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

killed, the whole limb soon dies, but where the limb is 
simply girdled by the disease, it may send out leaves again 
the next season and then die. All parts of the trees below 
the point reached by the blight are healthy, no more injury 
resulting to the unaffected parts of the tree than if the 
blighted parts had been killed by fire girdling. 

Blight varies greatly in severity and in the manner in 
which it attacks the tree. Sometimes it attacks only the 
blossom clusters or perhaps only the young tips of the 
growing twigs; sometimes it runs down on the main 
branches and trunk ; and again it extends down only a few 
inches from the point of attack. The sudden collapse of 
the foliage on the blighted branches has led many to 
believe that the disease progresses more rapidly than it 
really does. It rarely extends further than two or three 
inches from the point of attack in one day, but occasionally 
reaches as much as one foot. 

It is an easy matter to determine when the disease has 
expended itself on any limb or tree. When it is still pro- 
gressing, the discolored, blighted portion blends off gradu- 
ally into the normal bark, but when it has stopped there 
is a sharp line of demarkation between the diseased and 
healthy portions. 

CAUSE OF THE DISEASE. 

Pear blight is caused by a very minute microbe of the 
class bacteria. This microbe was discovered by Professor 
T. J. Burrill in 1879, and is known to science as Bacillus 
amylivorous. The following are the principal proofs that 
it causes the disease: (1) The microbes are found in 
immense numbers in freshly blighted twigs; (2) they can 
be taken from an infected tree and cultivated in pure cul- 
tures, and in this way can be kept for months at a time; 
(3) by innoculating a suitable healthy tree with these 
cultures the disease is produced; (4) in a tree so innocu- 
lated the microbes are again found in abundance. 

LIFE HISTORY OF THE MICROBE. 

Blight first appears in spring on the blossoms. About 



Principal Fungus Diseases of Fruits in Idaho 131 

the time the tree is going out of blossom certain flower 
clusters turn black and dry up as if killed by frost. The 
blighting of blossoms or blossom blight, as it is called, is 
one of the most serious features of pear blight. One of 
the most remarkable things about this disease is the 
rapidity with which it spreads through an orchard at 
blooming time. The microbes travel about quite readily, 
notwithstanding the fact that they are surrounded and 
held together and to the tree by sticky and gummy sub- 
stances. They are able to live and multiply in the nectar 
of the blossom, from whence they are carried away by 
bees and other insects, which visit the blossoms in great 
numbers for the honey and pollen. If a few early blossoms 
are affected, the insects will scatter the disease from 
flower to flower and from tree to tree until it becomes an 
epidemic in the orchard. From the blossoms the disease 
may extend downwards into the branches or run in from 
lateral fruit spurs so as to do a great amount of damage 
by girdling the limbs. The blight also gains entrance 
through the tips of growing shoots. In the nursery, when 
trees are not flowering, this is the usual mode of infection. 
This is often called twig blight, a good term to distinguish 
it from blossom blight, provided it is understood that this 
simply indicates different modes of attack of the same 
disease. 

CONDITIONS AFFECTING THE DISEASE. 

The severity of the attacks, that is, the distance which 
the blight extends down the branches, depends on a num- 
ber of different conditions, some of which are under the 
control of the grower. It is well known, however, that the 
pear and quince are usually attacked oftener than the 
apple. Some varieties of pears, like Duchess and Keiffer 
resist the disease much better than others, such as Bart- 
lett, Idaho and Clapp's Favorite. It may be stated in a 
general way that the trees most severely injured by blight 
are those which are healthy, vigorous, well cultivated, and 
well fed, or, in other words, those that are making rapid 
growth of new, soft tissues. Climatic conditions greatly 



132 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

influence the disease, warm, moist weather, with frequent 
showers favoring it; dry, cool and sunny weather hinder- 
ing it; and very dry weather checking it to a considerable 
degree. 

The pear microbe is a very delicate organism and can- 
not withstand drying for any length of time. In the 
blighted twigs exposed to ordinary weather it dries out in 
a week or two and dies. It causes the greater part of the 
damage in the month or two following blossom time, but 
twig blight may be prevalent at any time through the 
summer when new growth is coming out. In the nursery 
severe attacks often occur through the summer. In the 
majority of cases, however, the disease stops by the close 
of the growing season. At that time the line of separation 
between the live and dead wood is quite marked, and 
probably not one case in several hundred would be found 
where the diseased wood blends off into the healthy parts 
and the blight is still in active progress. In the old dried 
bark, where the disease has stopped, the microbes have all 
died and disappeared. 

Unless the microbes keep on multiplying and extending 
in the tree, they soon die out. In certain cases the blight 
keeps up a sort of slow battle with the trees through the 
summer, so that at the close of the season, when the tree 
goes into a dormant condition, active blight is still at 
work in it. This is also true of the late summer and 
autumn infections. In these cases the blight usually con- 
tinues through the winter. The germs keep alive along 
the advancing margin of the blighted area, and although 
their development is very slow, it is continuous. Probably 
the individual microbes live longer in winter. At any rate, 
the infected bark retains its moisture longer, and generally 
the dead barks contains living microbes during a much 
longer period that it does in summer. It has already been 
found that this microbe stands the cold well. 

When root pressure begins in early spring the trees 
are gorged with sap. Under these favorable conditions 
the microbes which have lived over winter start anew and 
extend into the bark. The new blight which has developed 
in winter and spring is easily recognized by the moist 



Principal Fungus Diseases of Fruits in Idaho 133 

and fresh appearance of the blighted bark, as contrasted 
with the old, dead, and dry bark of the previous summer. 
The warm and moist weather which usually brings out the 
blossoms is particularly favorable to the development of 
the disease. At this time it spreads rapidly, and the gum 
is exuded copiously from various points in the bark and 
runs down the tree in a long line. Bees, wasps and flies 
are attracted to this gum and undoubtedly carry the 
microbes to the blossoms. From these first flowers it is 
carried to others, and so on till the blossoms are all killed 
or until the close of the blossoming period. Even after the 
blooming period it is almost certain that insects acciden- 
tally carry the blight to the young tips and in this manner 
are instrumental in causing twig blight also. The key 
to the whole situation is found in those cases of active 
blight (comparatively few) which hold over winter. If 
they can be found and destroyed, the pear blight question 
will be solved, for the reason that without the microbes 
there can be no blight, no matter how favorable the con- 
ditions may be for it; or to use a common expression, 
there will be none left for seed. 

REMEDY FOR PEAR BLIGHT. 

There is but one known method of controlling pear 
blight up to the present time, and that is the judicious use 
of pruning knife and saw. All shoots, limbs, fruit spurs 
or twigs that show the least signs of this dread disease 
should be cut out very soon, lest the disease should become 
epidemic and cause great damage to the orchard. The 
cut should be made a foot below the part affected, if pos- 
sible, and the saw or knife used should be disinfected 
after each cut by dipping it into kerosene, a weak solution 
of carbolic acid water, or a solution of corrosive sublimate, 
one part to 500 of water. All large wounds should be 
immediately painted over, to keep out the infectious germs. 

APPLE SCAB. 

Apple scab is perhaps the most destructive fungus 
enemy of the fruit growers in the northern part of the 



134 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

state, owing to the greater amount of moisture and more 
humid atmosphere, occupying among diseases a position 
ranking with that of the codling moth among the insect 
foes of the apple. It very seldom if ever occurs in the 
southern or arid parts of the state. Its injuries are greater 
than are generally appreciated, both in effect and extent. 
The yield of fruit per tree is greatly lessened whenever 
the scab is present: (1) By the premature dropping of 
young apples, due to the attacks, soon after the blossoms 
fall, of the scab fungus on flowers, stems and fruits; (2) 
by the smaller size of the scabby apples that mature, and 
(3), by the loss, just before picking, due to the fact that 
scabby fruit does not cling well to the tree and is more 
easily blown off; (4) the value of the fruit harvested is 
greatly diminished, since spotted apples must be placed in 
a lower grade and sold for less than clean fruit; (5) their 
keeping quality is also impaired, as molds and other fungi, 
which cause decay, gain entrance through the scab spots 
and increase the loss during storage. Nor is the damage 
confined to the fruit. The leaves are also attacked by the 
fungus, and the resultant spotting and distortion consid- 
erably lessen the vigor and general health of the tree. 

CAUSE. 

Apple scab is caused by the summer or conideal stage 
of a fungus. This fungus attains its perfect form on dead 
apples leaves. The disease first appears on the leaves 
shortly after they unfold, the first infections having come 
from spores blown by the wind from the dead leaves of 
the previous season. The olive green, velvety spots on the 
leaves and fruit produce great numbers of spores, which 
continue to spread the scab broadcast. In the wet season 
the flowers and very young fruit and its pedicels are 
attacked. The fungus grows in this manner throughout 
the summer and autumn. In the late autumn and winter 
the Ventura or perfect stage is produced on the dead apple 
leaves on the ground. 

The relative severity of the disease is influenced by a 
number of factors, chief of which is the weather. A low 



Principal Fungus Diseases of Fruits in Idaho 135 

temperature and. abundant moisture favor the development 
of the fungus, and consequently scab is worse in cool, damp 
seasons. 

Cultural conditions in the orchards influence scab 
fungus as much as they do the codling moth. Neglected, 
unpruned and uncultivated trees are more subject to scab, 
and careful attention to the general condition of the 
orchard in connection with the spraying will always be 
profitable. 

Varieties of apples differ in their susceptibility to scab, 
but susceptible varieties often possess counterbalancing 
desirable qualities which lead to their extensive use. 

REMEDY FOR APPLE SCAB. 

As multitudes of the spores of apple scab winter on 
the fallen leaves they should all be plowed under or raked 
up and burned. All prunings and twigs should be carefully 
gathered and burned. 

Use lime and sulphur solution (Remedy No. 1), just as 
the buds are beginning to open, as this is an excellent 
fungicide as well as an insecticide. It has long been the 
custom to use the Bordeaux mixture for this disease, the 
first application at the time of first spray for codling moth 
and every two or three weeks for three sprayings, or more 
if the season is cold and damp. While Bordeaux, if prop- 
erly used, will kill the scab, it often causes a russeting of 
the fruit, which is nearly as serious as the disease itself. 
In the last four years experiments have been made to 
determine the practicability of using a weak lime and 
sulphur solution in place of Bordeaux and all tests so far 
seem to indicate that the proper remedy has been found, 
although later tests may bring forth developments not yet 
anticipated. This spray has been tested at various 
strengths but a concensus of opinion would indicate that 
home cooked mixture 5 pounds sulphur and 5 pounds lime 
to 50 gallons of water or prepared mixture in proportions 
of one part solution to 20 parts water would be about 
right. 

While we have not had sufficient experience to unquali- 



136 State Board of Hortictdtural Inspection 

fiedly recommend the lime and sulphur spray, we would 
advise growers in sections where scab is prevalent to make 
a thorough test the coming season, using lime and sulphur 
solution at strength given above at times and in manner 
as formerly used with the Bordeaux. 

BROWN ROT OR FRUIT MOLD. 

Description — This is the only serious fungus disease of 
the plum, prune, cherry and peach yet known in the 
orchards of the northwest, where it has become introduced 
within the last few years. Usually the first sympton of 
this disease to attract attention is the numerous grayish- 
white pustules that appear on the attacked fruit when it 
is nearly ripe. The pustules consist of the reproductive 
bodies or spores of the fungus, and under the microscope 
are seen to be oval in shape and arranged in rows like 
chains of beads. The disease is scattered by these spores 
being carried by the air currents or in some cases by 
insects. Under favorable conditions the spores quickly 
germinate, sending out a germ tube that will penetrate a 
healthy fruit and soon cause it to rot. A curious feature 
of this fungus is that it causes the attacked fruit to be- 
come dry and hard, in which condition it may remain 
hanging on the tree for a long time. It is mainly on these 
fruits that the fungus passes the winter, and on such 
fruit the spores may be found in abundance in the spring. 
The disease spreads much more rapidly in damp weather 
than in dry, so that the amount of damage it does is 
much more serious in some seasons than in others. 

REMEDY FOR BROWN ROT OR FRUIT MOLD. 

Use lime and sulphur solution (Remedy No. 1) at the 
first opening of the buds and Bordeaux mixture (Remedy 
No. 7) for summer spraying. 

LEAF BLIGHT OF THE PEAR. 

In connection with the discussion of the true pear 
blight it seems desirable to mention the leaf blight which 



Manual of Horticulture, Idaho. 



PLATE XXTV 



GRIMES GOLDEN- 



Principal Fungus Diseases of Fruits in Idaho 137 

is entirely distinct from the former disease. Leaf blight 
is caused by the fungus Entomosporium maculatum, while 
the true pear blight is caused by a bacteria or germ. Pear 
twigs attacked by true pear blight show curled and black- 
ened leaves — this feature being very prominent, but usu- 
ally the leaves themselves are not killed by the pear blight 
disease, but die as a necessary consequence, following the 
death of the twig to which it was attached. 

Leaf blight is one of the most serious diseases of the 
pear, and is also frequently abundant on the quince. The 
blight first develops soon after the leaves become fully 
expanded in spring, appearing first as minute reddish spots 
on the upper surface of the leaves. As they increase in 
size and numbers considerable areas of the leaves may 
become involved by the fungus itself while the areas in 
between the spots become greatly weakened. The reddish 
spots soon change to a deep brown with dark center, finally 
becoming nearly black. With a magnifying glass minute 
black dots may be discovered in the center of the spots, 
these dots being the fruit or spores of the fungus. When 
leaves are badly affected it results in severe shedding. 

Unfortunately leaf blight is by no means confined to 
the leaves but appears on both twig and fruit. The former 
are attacked much the same as leaves. The fruit first 
becomes covered with reddish pimples, soon changing to 
nearly black, while the diseased tissue begins to crack in 
such a manner as to ruin the fruit. Even when the pears 
attain full size, the cracking may be so severe that the 
fruit will be unsalable. 

Hot, dry weather seems to be favorable to an increase 
of pear leaf blight, though the disease is liable to develop 
almost every season. When young, tender leaves are at- 
tacked, the result is that they become curled, due to a 
contraction of the diseased areas. Full grown leaves usu- 
ally retain their shape even when completely covered by 
the black spots. 

REMEDY FOR PEAR LEAF BLIGHT. 

Use lime and sulphur solution (Remedy No. 1) as the 



138 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

buds begin to open and Bordeaux mixture (Remedy No. 7) 
for summer spraying. Several sprayings may be needed. 

CROWN GALL, ROOT GALL, ROOT KNOT, HAIRY ROOT. 

May be all the same disease yet assuming different 
types or forms. This fungus or bacterial disease appears 
mostly on apple trees but may occur on different varieties 
of deciduous fruit trees, plants and shrubs. It is very fre- 
quently found on nursery stock and is usually noted by 
the enlargement or knotted appearance of the roots. These 
abnormal growths, knots or galls may vary in size from a 
foot in length and diameter to very small excrescences on 
the fine roots. In the case of hairy root it may be noted by 
the great numbers of hair-like roots extending from the 
main base or tap root. 

We deem that there is a possibility of infection from 
spores being driven by the wind or by contact from plant 
to plant. 

All plants showing the least signs of the disease should 
be promptly condemned and burned up. The most careful 
and rigid inspection for the disease should be given all 
nursery stock before being planted. 

GOOSEBERRY MILDEW. 

This troublesome disease usually appears in the spring 
upon the developing buds and leaves, first shoAving as a 
sparse cob-webby coating, which later develops into a 
denser white, powdery coating. The young berries are 
also attacked. A serious disease which very much inter- 
feres with the growing of choice foreign varieties. 

REMEDY FOR GOOSEBERRY MILDEW. 

It has been ascertained by experience that Remedy No. 
1 used in the dormant season has been most effective. If 
summer spray is needed, use Remedy No. 7. 

PUSTULE SPOT FUNGUS. 

This is a disease that has lately made its appearance in 



Principal Fungus Diseases of Fruits in Idaho 139 

Idaho. It attacks the peach, apricot and nectarine. The 
markings on the fruit sometimes very much resemble the 
San Jose scale but a closer examination easily reveals the 
difference. 

The pustule consists of a small blister or elevation 
of the cuticle or skin of the fruit. It sometimes assumes 
quite a scabby appearance. This fungus disease has un- 
doubtedly been lately imported from some other state. 

Use lime and sulphur solution (Remedy No. 1) in the 
dormant season and Bordeaux mixture (Remedy No. 7) 
for later spraying. 

We also recommend Remedies No. 1 and 7 for powdery 
mildew of the peach, apple, grape and other fungus dis- 
eases. Remedy No. 1 must always be used in the dormant 
season and No. 7 for summer treatment. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
CONTROL OF PEAR BLIGHT. 

BY P. J. O'GARA. 

Assistant Pathologist Department of Agriculture. 

The germ causing this disease is named by bacteriolo- 
gists Bacillus amylovorus. For our purpose of discussion 
we may call it the pear blight bacillus, the pear blight germ 
or the pear blight microbe, all these terms meaning prac- 
tically the same thing. These germs are among the most 
minute of living things. Bacteria or germs are vegetable 
organisms and are as truly plants as trees, grasses, etc. 
However, they are very low down in the scale of the vege- 
table kingdom since the individual organism consists of a 
single cell, which may be elliptical or rod-like in form. 
They multiply by lengthening a little and then pinching to 
two. This is the only way in which they may increase 
their numbers. This process can take place within half 
an hour or less, and this I have proven by observation in 
a hanging drop culture under the microscope; although 
they are extremely minute they may be measured by 
means of microscopical apparatus. The standard of meas- 
urement for these minute objects is the micromillimeter, 
and a millimeter is about one twenty-fifth part of an inch. 
The pear blight germ is about two-thirds to three-fourths 
of a rafcromillimeter wide, and from one to one and one- 
half micromillimeters long when it has reached its mature 
stage. As another illustration showing their minute size 
I may say that if 25,000 pear blight germs were placed 
end to end they would scarcely measure an inch in length. 
Curiously enough, the young germs are longer than the 
older ones. When they are growing rapidly their develop- 
ment in length goes on more rapidly than their division. 
This germ forms no spores, and for this reason cannot 



142 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

live over the dry season, as do the germs of anthrax, which 
form spores. The pear blight germ is very sensitive to 
drying, and, in fact, is a very short-lived germ. The fact 
that it does not form spores is highly important, as spore- 
forming bacteria are capable of living over in dust whlcti 
may be blown about by the winds. The germ dies rapidly 
in the blighted tissues, as soon as the tissues have become 
fully killed. It cannot withstand drying, usually dying 
within two weeks or so. It is killed by exposure to direct 
sunshine in a very few minutes, usually not more than ten 
minutes unless protected by the bark or twigs. It rapidly 
dies when washed into the soil, since it can no longer get 
the necessary food for its existence and multiplication. 
In fact, the pear blight germs disappear and die ver>' 
shortly after they are exuded or washed out by the rains 
from the twigs and branches. It also dies when tht 
blighted bark dries up. It can only live along the advanc- 
ing margin of the disease in the thick, fleshy bark or cam- 
bium which has been invaded by the bacteria, and which 
does not have time to dry out until the cool weather ap- 
proaches. The thick bark of the large limbs, branches and 
root system remains moist during a long period, especially 
in the winter. By this method, the importance of which 
we will show later, the germs are able to carr\ over, or live 
over, from one season to another. As a matter of fact, 
it is only by this means that the pear blight can live over 
during the dormant period of the trees. The germs are 
killed by a high temperature, they are wholly de&troyed 
when subjected in liquid culture to the temperature of 55 
degrees Centigrade for ten minutes. They are wholly 
uninjured, on the other hand, by any degree of cold. Tem- 
peratures of 40 degrees Fahrenheit below zero have no 
effect whatever. They may be found to be frozen at this 
temperature, but thaw out immediately when plunged into 
warm water and go on with their activities uninjured. | 
Cold retards their development, but it also prolongs their 
life. Like other vegetable organisms, cold storage has the 
effect of prolonging life over a long period of time. In the 
laboratory the organism lives for a relatively short time 
at room temperatures, while if the cultures are put into 



Control of Pear Blight 143 

the ice box the germs may live for months providing the 
culture medium does not dry out. 

In the life cycle of this germ, blossom blight may be 
considered the first step, at least, this is the first step in 
its life cycle that is noticed by the casual observer. For a 
long time it was a great puzzle where the germs came from 
that produced the first blossom blight in the spring of the 
year. This one link in the chain, where the germs re- 
mained during the dormant season, was missing. No one 
knew how the first blossoms became infected. Given a 
number of blossoms infected, it was comparatively easy 
to discover the methods by which the germs were carried 
about. Not only in natural infections but in those arti- 
ficially produced with pure cultures, insects were found 
visiting the blighted blossoms. The germ multiplies in the 
nectaries of the blossoms as readily as it does in a culture 
medium, since the nectar glands exude a sugary solution 
which furnishes the organism the necessary food supply. 
The enzyme or ferment given off as a by-product by the 
germ dissolves the delicate cells beneath, permitting the 
germ to pass downward with the greatest of ease. Ordin- 
arily the entire pear tree is sealed up with an air tight 
and water tight cuticle composed of a thin layer of the 
same composition as cork. Even the breathing pores are 
plugged up during the dormant season of the tree so as 
to prevent evaporation from the tissues. This cuticle 
keeps out the pear blight germ unless it is injured or 
broken. The nectary is not covered by cuticle, and is, 
therefore, an easy place for the germs to enter. The 
gummy exudate pushes out of the infected blossoms, adding 
to or even taking the place of the nectar; and honey bees, 
wild bees, wasps, flies, and perhaps fifty other species of 
insects visiting the pear blossoms or apple blossoms carry 
the germ-infected material. When once the insects' mouth 
parts and feet are infected, blossoms which it visits there- 
after in turn become infected as the insects drop off a few 
germs into the nectaries. The blight virus being also a 
sticky material and usually requiring a considerable mass, 
speaking from the microscopic standpoint, to produce in- 
fection, is not blown by the wind. Of course, the negative 



144 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

of such a proposition is hard to prove conclusively, but 
experiments have been made to decide this matter by 
covering blossoms with mosquito netting along the side of 
artificially infected flowers, and it was readily found that 
the uncovered flower visited by insects contracted the 
blight, while those covered by bags, mosquito netting and 
other material which kept out insects remained free from 
the disease. Occasionally, a humming bird visited the 
infected blossoms. This has been observed in a number of 
instances. Doubtless birds get the gummy material on thei^' 
feet and carry the blight long distances. However, we 
look upon insect distribution as by far the most immediate 
means of infection, especially in blossoms; in carrying the 
blight from flower to flower, tree to tree and orchard to 
orchard, although doubtless occasional long distance dis- 
tribution is accomplished by birds or some other agencies, 
including man himself. After the blossoming period is 
over, or even before it is entirely finished, blight may be 
found attacking the tender twigs. Our common insects 
have been found to be active agencies in not only the dis- 
tribution of the disease, but in puncturing the tissues and 
thereby introducing the germs into them. While it is easy 
to prove that insects cause some of the infections of some 
of the twigs, it is not absolutely certain that they do all the 
innoculating. Twigs are sometimes found with blight 
started in the axils of the leaves or in the tender bark 
where no punctures can be found on careful examinatior 
It is possible that the germ may enter in damp weather 
through growth cracks where the cuticle is ruptured, ex- 
posing the tender tissues. 

That insects really carry pear blight germs on their feet 
and mouth parts, I have proved by capturing these insee.ts 
in infected orchards and allowing them to walk about on 
prepared culture plates, known as Petri dishes, which con- 
tained a substance in which germs might make growth. 
In from 24 to 48 hours colonies of germs would be found 
growing from the points where the insects walked upon 
the culture medium. By innoculating growing shoots from 
these cultures, tj^ical cases of blight were produced. 

In the numerous experiments which have been made 



Manual of Hoi^ticulture, Ida In 



PT.ATIC XXV 




JONATHAN 



Control of Pear Blight 145 

atomizing the germs on the tissues, it has resulted in a 
failure in most cases, except where punctures through the 
cuticle have been made by a pin point, or where ny the 
breaking of the leaf or some slight abrasion the skin has 
been ruptured, allowing the germ to enter. 

There are, therefore, two main methods of entry by the 
germ. First, in the nectar of the blossom, and second, in 
the tender tips of growing twigs or waier sprouts. Blight 
occasionally enters by the third method — directly into the 
tender, growing, fleshy part, through growth cracks, al- 
though as a general rule this method of entry is compara- 
tively rare. Sapsuckers or woodpeckers become infected 
by puncturing cases of hold-over blight, and afterwards 
visiting healthy trees produce blight infection from them. 
We have several observations along this line and doubtless 
many more occur in nature. It is even possible for the 
whiffletrees or implements used in cultivation to transfer 
the infection; pruning tools are certainly a very frequent 
cause of transmitting the disease, especially during the 
growing season. 

Mr. Waite states that in Maryland he saw a nursery 
block of 10,000 Bartlett pear trees completely destroyed by 
blight. This block, as was determined by the specimens, 
carried actual samples of hold-over blight in the stocks. 
When stocks were cut off above the dormant buds in the 
spring, the pruning tools became infected and the disease 
was transmitted to nearly every tree reached by the 
pruner. Instead of the buds pushing up, the cut surface 
began to gum and blight. The writer has seen in certain 
nurseries in Nebraska many cases where nursery infection 
has been brought about through the use of tools which 
have been used in cutting out blight infection in large 
orchard trees, without previously disinfecting them. Pear 
blight behaves in all sorts of irregular ways when it 
runs down the limbs and branches. Occasionally a fruit 
spur blighting causes the disease to spread in a circular 
spot an inch or two in diameter on the branches. More 
often it is an elliptical spot extending lengthwise of the 
branch. It may run down in a long line from the lower 
edge, making it very difficult to save the branch or even 



146 State Board of Horticultural Irispection 

the tree by cutting, on account of this narrow strip of the 
disease. It is almost impossible to anticipate the variations 
in behavior of the disease, because it depends upon so 
many different factors. It may be well to point out some 
of the factors controlling the habits of the disease in order 
that you may see how varied are the influences controlling 
it. 

These factors may be divided more or less completely 
into two sets. First, those which govern infection, and 
second, those which determine the spread of the blight in 
the tree after infection. 

The first factor is the presence of the bacillus. The pear 
blight germ must be present in the orchard or must be 
carried there during the season in order to have the 
blight. No matter how favorable the conditions may be, 
unless the germ is there the disease cannot develop. The 
immunity of California and Oregon orchards up to recent 
years, of course, is attributed to the fact that the germ 
was not there The second factor is the number of insect 
visitors. We have pointed out that insects carry the blight 
about. The honey bee is one of the most active in carrying 
the blight on the blossoms. Other insects visit the pear 
and apple blossoms and carry the blight very widely. The 
presence of some certain species of insects as already sug- 
gested, has been the means of introducing the blight into 
the twigs and branches or bodies of the trees. Not only 
must the insect be present and the germs there for them to 
carry, but the weather conditions must be favorable for 
the activity of the insects and to bring the trees into proper 
condition for infection. 

Flower visiting insects usually like sunshiny weather, 
especially sunny weather following a moist season, which 
allows many kinds to hatch out or develop from the pupa. 
Young orchards are not usually attacked by the blight, 
rather rarely, in fact, until they have blossomed, unless 
there is a bad attack of blight in a pear or other pome 
fruit orchard near at hand. There are some cases of 
young orchards which I have seen in California and 
Oregon that have blighted somewhat seriously before they 
had bloomed, but they were alongside badly blighted 



Control of Pear Blight 147 

pear orchards. The presence of water sprouts or spurs 
from the French stock, on which pear trees are mostly 
budded, often determines infection. In many localities the 
entire loss of the pear orchards has come through the in- 
fection of water sprouts and spurs coming from the crown 
or roots of the trees. Perhaps 90 per cent of the loss in 
many of the river orchards in the Sacramento valley has 
come about through this sort of infection. Right alongside 
of orchards which have been seriously damaged through 
the infection of water sprouts from the stock or roots we 
found thrifty trees which were budded on Le Compte, 
Winter Nelis and Kieffer roots; these have not gone down 
with the disease through their ability to resist the blight. 
It has been particularly noticeable that Winter Nelis roots 
are very resistant to the blight. Cases have come under 
my observation where the bodies have blighted as far as 
the union with the Winter Nelis stock and then stopped. 
If this experiment proves universal, it is a strong argument 
in favor of using the Kieffer and Winter Nelis stocks on 
which to graft the more tender varieties. Furthermore, 
these stocks have a less tendency to throw out sprouts. 

Several conditions or factors control the spread of the 
blight after it once enters the tree. Some of these are 
more or less connected with the conditions favoring in- 
fection. The vigor of the tree has a great deal to do with 
the amount of damage produced after the blight once enters 
it. Another fact which must be borne in mind is the 
variety of the tree, whether apple or pear, or any other 
pome fruit. All varieties are not equally susceptible under 
similar conditions, there being in many varieties a certain 
tendency or immunity. The more vigorous and thrifty the 
tree, as a general rule, the more seriously it is attacked 
by the blight. The vigor itself is the effect of various con- 
ditions, such as the fertility of the soil, the amount of 
manure or of fertilizer used, or kind of cultivation, soil, 
moisture, rainfall or irrigation, and the presence of other 
diseases, such as leaf blight, crown gall, root rot, etc. 

As a rule, trees on rich soil blight more readily than 
trees which are on poor soil. There are some apparent 
exceptions to this, and there is a difference in the behavior 



148 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

of blight on different soils in connection with their fer- 
tility. Alkali soils seem to favor the blight more than 
correspondingly fertile soils that are not alkali. On the 
other hand, trees may blight on the acid soils of the 
eastern states. Stable manure causes the trees to be more 
susceptible to the blight than those not manured. The age 
of the tree also exerts an important influence. The older 
and slower growing the tree is the less it is attacked by 
blight, other things, of course, being equal. Exhaustive 
crops of fruit tend to consume the food material of the 
tree and help to check the blight to a certain extent. On 
the other hand, when the trees fail to fruit from unfav- 
orable conditions, such as prolonged rains at the blossoming 
period, there may not be the opportunity for infection and 
the contradiction to this principle may be observed. From 
observation, orchardists know that during rainy and 
cloudy weather insect visitors, such as bees, are very rarely 
found working in the blossom. Since the bees are the 
principal distributors of the blight germs, it can be readily 
seen that if the entire blossoming period is covered by 
rainy or cool weather there is little chance for very serious 
and general infection, although there may be considerable 
hold-over blight in the vicinity of the blooming orchards. 
The style of pruning the tree exerts some influence, not 
only in the behavior of the blight, but also on the conven- 
ience of the orchardist in eradicating the disease. The 
least desirable form of tree is the tall pyramid, having a 
central leader with the fruit spurs on the main trunk and 
water sprouts at the base. In this form of tree, any in- 
fection of blossoms or sprouts readily goes into the body, 
making it difficult to eradicate the blight without practi- 
cally destroying the tree, or, at least, removing the prin- 
cipal bearing area. The most desirable form is the 
broad vase-formed tree, clean and free from water sprouts 
at the base, having no fruit spurs near the main trunk and 
leaders, and having lateral twigs for fruit bearing at as 
great distance as possible from the crown of the tree. Such 
a tree is also in a very desirable form for other reasons, for 
it is easier to spray, easier to prune after the top has 
been formed, easier to gather the fruit, and especially 
easier to examine and keep free from blight. 



Control of Pear Blight 149 

The weather at critical times, especially in the spring 
and summer, exerts an important influence on the spread 
of the blight. In fact, the weather influences dominate 
more equally the infection than they do the spreading of 
the blight in the trees. We recognize certain spells or 
weather conditions as infection periods, and by following 
carefully the relation of the blight to the weather the 
intelligent fruit grower soon learns to anticipate these 
difficulties. In fact, it is supposed by many that the long, 
dry, hot summer of the western states, especially the 
Pacific coast states, gives such poor opportunity for pear 
blight that it was not able to exist under the prevailing 
conditions. Of course, we now know that this is a fallacy, 
for, as soon as the germ was introduced, it produced the 
disease abundantly. Dry sunshine, while favorable to the 
orchards, tends to produce a firm, healthy growth of the 
tree and prevent infection periods. However, constant 
and intense sunlight produces another result which may 
be noted here. Pome fruits, as well as other fruits, under 
the influence of dry, but sunshiny weather, carry on their 
processes of growth and assimilation in the very best 
possible manner. The study of blight throughout the west 
shows that where irrigation is used on the one hand, and 
where there is a natural supply of water on the other 
hand, and where the orchards are fairly well supplied with 
water and kept in a continual state of high nutrition by 
the perpetual and uniform sunshine, the trees are pecu- 
liarly susceptible to the disease. In the lower Sacramento 
valley in California and in the Rogue River valley where 
irrigation is not resorted to, we find that there is a great 
deal of soil moisture, and in many favored spots, the water 
table is only a few feet below the surface of the ground. 
Under proper cutivation, where a dust mulch prevents 
evaporation of the soil moisture, we find that during even 
the dryest seasons the roots of the trees are amply sup- 
plied with water. On the other hand, we also find places 
where the water table is too near the surface, and in this 
case the trees are in a drowned condition; consequently, 
perfect assimilation does not go on, and for this reason, 
such trees, although situated in rich, nitrogenous soils, do 



150 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

not blight badly. Where the trees are growing at their 
best, the blight germ feeds on the rich sugars and starches 
of the sap, so that the conditions which favor the growth 
and production of the fruit also tends to favor the germ; 
for we must remember that the germ is itself a plant, de- 
pending upon the rich food supplied by the tree for its 
best growth. The fleshy bark of trees grown under con- 
stant sunshine, especially those of the Pacific coast, seem 
to be richer and thicker than in the eastern states, and 
naturally affords an unusually good feeding ground for the 
pear blight bacillus. This rich, fleshy bark also tends to 
hold over the germ during the dormant season in a much 
more serious way than the thinner bark of trees grown 
under other conditions. Cloudy, rainy weather, therefore, 
while favoring infection, sometimes results in a starved 
condition of the tree, which, of course, is especially un- 
favorable to the pear blight germ. Trees grown so as to 
produce a minimum growth naturally are short of plant 
food, and, of course, do not favor the pear blight germ, 
even though it should enter the tissues. Every physiolo- 
gist knows that in order that a green plant may form 
starch in its foliage the action of sunlight is required. 
The more intense the sunlight the more rapidly the forma- 
tion of starch goes on. In cloudy, dark weather, very little 
starch is made or elaborated in the leaves. Of course, we 
know that the tree does not make use of its starch as such, 
but, through the action of a diastatic ferment or enzyme, 
the starch is changed into sugar, which is translocated to 
all parts of the tree by osmotic action, that is, through 
the sap. It is this rich sap, which is mostly sugar, that 
the pear blight germ feeds upon. The more sugar, the 
more intense the destructive action of the germ. The 
very regular growth of the trees in the Rocky Mountain 
and Pacific Coast orchards tends to keep the pear blight 
germ continually at work, unless checked by prompt and 
thorough eradication. In the eastern orchards, especially 
with dwarf pears, which make their growth early in the 
season, a heavy rain, if accompanied by a day or two of 
cool, cloudy weather, will cause the trees to close up their 
terminal buds. 



Control of Pear Blight 151 

Before leaving the chapter on weather conditions, it 
may be well to point out more fully the reasons why serious 
outbreaks of blight occur after showers or thunder storms. 
It has been the common belief that static discharges of at- 
mospheric electricity have a considerable influence upon 
such outbreaks. This, of course, is mere fancy and has no 
scientific significance whatever. Everyone knows that a 
seed planted in dry soil cannot germinate unless moisture 
is applied to it, either artificially or naturally. Now, sup- 
posing a thunder storm comes along with a heavy precipi- 
tation, or at least sufficient precipitation to moisten the 
soil about the seed; what happens? The question is so 
simple that a child in the primary grade would not hesi- 
tate in answering it. Of course, the seed starts into 
growth, the rapidity of its growth depending upon the 
temperature following the rainfall. Now, was it the rain- 
fall or the thunder and lightning that caused the seed to 
germinate? No, the rainfall and the warmth, and nothing 
else. It has been explained that a germ or bacterium is 
also a plant dependent upon moisture and heat for its 
growth. In a dry season an enormous number of infections 
may take place, but the very fact that the season is dry 
and warm accounts for the fact that these infections fail; 
just the same as in a very dry season a very large per- 
centage of corn, or any other seed put into dry ground, 
will fail to germinate and we have an occasional plant 
coming up, just as we find in the case of blight, only a few 
infections appearing. Everybody knows that after a rain 
every vegetable starts into rapid growth providing the 
weather is warm. Now, rapid growth in a pear or apple 
tree means nothing more or less than an enormous addi- 
tion of water, plus food from soil and air to it. Here we 
have conditions favorable to the growth of the blight germ 
which uses the pear or apple as its soil from which it 
draws its water supply and its necessary food; namely, 
starch and sugar. Just preceding a heavy rainfall, the 
germs may have been distributed very widely. Had dry 
weather continued the fact that the germ had become 
widely distributed would not have become apparent because 
countless infections would not have taken. In very dry 



152 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

weather, the nectaries of blossoms soon dry, and unless 
germs have gained a strong foothold before drying takes 
place no apparent infection results. The above explana- 
tion should suffice to show that the thunder and lightning 
theory has no bearing whatever on the disease known as 
pear blight. Consider the germ in the light of a seed 
whose germination is dependent upon the same ecologicai 
conditions for all of its growth activities. 

To one who knows something of the theory of the dis- 
ease, the matter of eradication often seems very simple. It 
is usually a very easy thing to write about the experiences 
of others and to tell in considerable detail how blight 
should be eradicated and controlled. The actual field work 
is very difficult and tedious, and a matter of days and 
months of training only will make an expert field man. 
No one can become expert after a few hours' work, even 
under competent instruction given by a trained man having 
had years of experience. We do find people, however, who 
are able to write and instruct without having had any ex- 
perience whatever. To the initiated, as well as the unin- 
itiated, let me say that the eradication of pear blight is 
one of the most difficult problems known to plant patho- 
logists. Let no one say that it is a simple thing. It is 
difficult, very difficult. The reason for this difficulty is 
that we are dealing with a considerable amount of ignor- 
ance and unbelief; again, few farmers who have not had 
a bacteriologist's training, realize the peculiar relation ex- 
isting between the organism causing the disease and the 
host of plants. They fail to see that this relation is prac- 
tically the same as that which exists between the germ of 
tuberculosis and man. On the one hand, antiseptic pre- 
cautions, and the removal of infections seems unimportant; 
on the other hand, however, long experience with this 
dread human disease instills a sort of fear, even though 
the true cause may not be fully comprehended. If very 
fruitgrower could be made to feel that fruit trees are living 
things very much in the same sense as themselves, and that 
the parasites attacking them should be viewed in a cor- 
responding light for both, I am sure the whole matter of 
education would be solved. 



Manual of Horticulture, Idaho. 
Courtesy of "Better Fruit." 



PLATE XXVI. 




Figure 1 — Wrong form of pear tree. The 
central leader renders it difficult to 
eradicate or control bliglit. The open 
head is the proper type of tree. (Pno- 
tograpli by the author). 





Figure i! — The result of growing n tree 
witli the central leader. Bliglit infec- 
tion made it necessary to rataijve prac- 
tically the entire bearing area of the 
tree. The limbs left are too long and 
weak. (Photograph by ti;.' autlior). 




Figure 3 — A bad crown infection on 
Spitzenberg apple, due to water sprouts. 
Poor attempt at working out the infec- 
tion. Note ooze running down the body 
above the part cut out. (Photograph 
by the author). 



Figure 4 — Body infection of Bartlett, due 
to water sprouts. First attempt to eradi- 
cate the blight unsuccessful, and it was 
necessary to peel the bark and i^ambium 
at a greater distance. (Photograph by 
the author). 



Control of Pear Blight 158 

The treatment for pear blight, or rather the methods 
for controlling it, may be divided into two classes, primary 
and secondary. The primary method of treating this dis- 
ease consists of cutting out thoroughly and antiseptically 
the hold-over blight during the dormant season of the 
trees — that is, during the fall and winter. It has been 
explained that the hold-over blight may be found in the 
larger limbs, the trunk and even the root system. These 
hold-over cases have become such through the various 
means of infection pointed out in a previous chapter, 
namely, through blossoms, buds or water sprouts, which 
have become infected and through which the blight has 
gained entrance to the fleshy bark and cambium of the 
bodies and roots. The other methods of entrance, as 
pointed out before, are through growth cracks, crown galls, 
insect and bird punctures, or any other way by which the 
epidermis may be broken so as to expose the tissues be- 
neath. It has also been shown that the pruning knife or 
other orchard instruments and implements may be the 
means of spreading the disease. If the work of removing 
hold-over cases is done thoroughly it leaves no opportunity 
for additional advantages from any other secondary meth- 
od to be given later. 

Remember that the important thing is the removal of 
the source, or what will be the source of infection the fol- 
lowing year. In the case of the pear or apple it is impor- 
tant that this work be done as skillfully as the work of a 
surgeon in removing a member infected with blood poison. 
Everyone realizes the attention given to the source of a> 
city's water supply, and it may be said that the death rate 
is very largely an index to its condition. In the same sense, 
the attention given the sanitary conditions of the orchards 
of any community is an index of the death rate of the 
orchards. Of course, the cutting out of hold-over blight 
must be done, not alone in a single orchard, but the work 
should be general and thorough throughout the entire area, 
such as an inclosed valley or even, for better work, an en- 
tire state. Complete eradication of pear blight from such 
a large area is, of course, very difficult, but not impossible. 
However, the fewer hold-over cases that may be missed 



154 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

will result in fewer cases of infection later in the spring 
and summer. As may be seen by referring to the factors 
influencing the disease, the presence of the germ is of 
primary importance. If the pear blight germ is not pres- 
ent in the orchard there can be no blight, no matter what 
the weather conditions may be. The orchards of California 
existed for twenty-five years with varying climatic condi- 
tions, and no one ever heard of blight in those orchards 
until the germ was introduced. 

The regular development of the disease has been 
pointed out by which it runs down on one side of the limb 
or body and not on the other; this often leads to failures 
in eradicating the blight from orchards. While the dis- 
ease in the top is very easy to handle and anyone who looks 
at all closely cannot only detect it, but can readily remove 
the infected branches ; the disease on the bodies and in the 
root system is not only hard to see, but it is often difficult 
to find it, especially on old trees where the crowns and 
bodies are covered with rough bark. It may be said here 
that the removal and the detection of hold-over in pear 
trees is not nearly so difficult as is the case in the apple 
and the quince. The Spitzenberg apple is probably the 
worst variety, if not the worst species of the pome family, 
in which to detect hold-over and to effectively remove it. 

The gum exudate, when it is present, gives a clue to 
many otherwise obscure cases. However, in cases of late 
fall and summer infections, the lesions may be so small as 
to produce no exudate or give any other evidence of in- 
fection. A dead water sprout or fruit spur, no matter 
how tiny it may be, leads to the detection of a case. Some- 
times these have been broken off in cultivation or care- 
lessly cut off without following up the infection at the base. 
Very often a water sprout which has come up from the 
root system at some distance from the base of the tree, 
becomes infected, and is later removed by cultivation; but 
the infection passes on up the infected root, finally in- 
volving the entire root system. Sometimes there is infec- 
tion without a water sprout or bud at all, and such cases 
are the hardest to detect unless some ooze has exuded. 
Such infections come about through insect punctures and 



Control of Pear Blight 155 

growth cracks by means of which the germ has been in- 
troduced. Where there is a large amount of blight to be 
removed from the orchard, necessitating a great deal of 
labor, it has proven necessary in every case to go over the 
orchard critically, or perhaps we may say leisurely, on a 
dry, sunshiny day when there is good light, and find the 
few cases that have been missed on the first inspection. 
No matter how thorough the work, this careful method of 
inspection has proved extremely important. Not only 
should the work be inspected immediately following the 
general clean-up, but someone else with keen, well-trained 
eyes should look over the trees several times during the 
winter. A special effort should be made to find out when 
there is a new exudation of ooze. This may follow any 
warm, mild spell in the winter, when there is a wide range 
between the day and night temperature. Such conditions 
are known to affect the flow of sap in the sugar maple 
and other trees. A final inspection should be made just 
before blossoming time to catch any hold-over blight the 
last moment, in case it has been overlooked before. 

After the blossoming period has passed so that the 
blight has had time to develop, if a colony of blight is 
found in the orchard, careful examination of this colony 
will generally result in the finding of a case of hold-over 
blight in the center and from which all trouble may be 
traced. During the first year's work, those who are just 
learning how to eradicate blight will probably miss a good 
many cases; however, after practice, they usually become 
keener and rarely miss any. In fact, I have seen men who 
from the very first were able to do excellent work, but, 
like other jobs which require careful work and a sharp 
eye, relatively few men are capable of making first-class 
inspectors. In many of the large orchards where the 
question of efficient labor is serious and where all sorts of 
tramp and other low-class labor has been employed, ab- 
solute failures in blight control have generally resulted. As 
I have stated before, a tramp, or, for that matter, even the 
better sort of laborer, cannot be thoroughly schooled in 
careful work of this kind within the space of a day or two. 
In every event, the best and most careful men should be 



156 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

placed in charge of work of this kind. It is almost need- 
less to say that the breaking up of the larger tracts into 
smaller ones of, say, five or ten acres, will largely solve 
the problem of blight control. When this is done each 
tract will have close, personal supervision, and the details 
of eradicating the blight, as well as keeping it under con- 
trol, will fall to the owner. It is a common mistake to 
think that the matter of eradication and control rests with 
the inspector alone. An inspector must have the co-opera- 
tion of the entire district. I do not know of any one who 
would ask an inspector to assume the matter of cultivation, 
pruning or any other of the regular orchard practices; so 
why should an inspector be asked to do the actual work of 
blight eradication? The inspector is, in the first place, an 
instructor, and in the second place, the one to enforce the 
horticultural laws, but he is no common hired man. 

It must be understood from the very beginning that 
there is no spray-cure or remedy for blight. Being a 
bacterial disease, and once the germ has gained entrance 
to the bark tissues and the cambium layer by any means 
whatever, it can readily be seen that any external applica- 
tion in the way of a spray or wash could not be effective. 
There is but one thing to do after infection has started, 
and that is to remove, by cutting, the affected parts. In 
other words, the operation is purely surgical. In all of the 
cutting a strong disinfectant should be used to wipe off the 
tools after cutting into the blight as well as to wash off 
the wounds made by the instruments; otherwise, it is 
possible to introduce the germ into the cut surface and 
to carry it from tree to tree on the pruning tools. In the 
majority of cases, in dry weather, infection would not 
result from the use of pruning tools, even though they 
were not disinfected, but it is never a wise plan to take a 
chance. In the late summer or early fall, when the ex- 
huberant growing season is over, the chances for infection 
by the use of unclean tools are not so great; however, it 
has been determined by numerous experiments that blight 
punctured into the fresh bark in the fall may remain semi- 
dorman through the winter and may result in a fine case 
of hold-over blight the following spring. In working out 



Control of Pear Blight 157 

blight as much care should be used to prevent accidental 
inoculation and infection as a surgeon would use in per- 
forming a major operation. 

For disinfecting the cut surfaces and the instruments, 
the best thing to use is a solution of corrosive sublimate, 
or bichloride of mercury, in water, one part to one thous- 
and. It is often advisable to use the disinfectant a little 
stronger, and there is no danger in using one to five hun- 
dred. Tablets may be obtained from any drug store, and 
the number to be used to produce any strength of solution 
is usually indicated upon the bottle. To be sure that no 
mistake is made, ask the druggist how many tablets to 
use to produce a solution of desired strength. When pos- 
sible, use rain water, as the slightly alkaline waters in dry 
countries tend to precipitate the poisonous mercurial com- 
pound. Also use a glass or non-metallic container, as a 
tin can or other metal container may react on the disin- 
fectant, and remove the poisonous principle. Corrosive 
sublimate kills the pear blight germ in solutions in water 
when it is diluted to one part to 10,000, therefore, the 
above formulae are sufficiently strong and well within the 
limits. While there are other disinfectants that may be 
used, bichloride of mercury is by far the cheapest, and 
there is nothing gained by using anything else. The use 
of kerosene, gasoline, and such like, is certainly not per- 
missible. Even carbolic acid is distinctly inferior to cor- 
rosive sublimate and, besides, its noxious smell and burn- 
ing tendency do not warrant its use. It must be remem- 
bered, however, that corrosive sublimate is a deadly poison 
when taken internally, and the bottle or container should 
be plainly marked poison. Applied externally to wounds, 
or upon the hands, it will cause no injury, but, on the 
other hand, will as readily disinfect as in the case of the 
tools and cut limbs. The greatest care should be taken in 
emptying the bottles containing the solution when re- 
turning to the house, or otherwise keeping both the bottle 
and solution away from children or unsuspecting persons. 
As indicated before, there is no danger in getting the 
solution on the hands; in fact, a cut or wound should be 
treated with it to prevent bacterial infection which might 



158 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

result in blood poisoning. It should be understood, how- 
ever, that the bacteria of pear blight are not pathogenic 
to man; that is to say, the germ can produce no evil effects 
even if introduced into the human system. It is a good 
plan to use a sponge, which, if fastened by a string about 
two feet in length and tied to one's clothing, is always 
handy when it is necessary to wipe the pruning tools and 
the cut surfaces of trees. Some operators tie a sponge 
by a very short string to the wrist, and this is probably 
the most convenient way to use it. An inch or three-quar- 
ters-inch carpenter's gouge is also an excellent tool in the 
makeup of a worker's outfit. With it a small chip may be 
taken out of the rough bark in inspecting large trees, and be- 
sides, it is a very handy tool in working the blight out of 
difficult places where ordinary tools cannot be so easily 
used. In inspecting large trees, whether apple or pear, 
the gouge must be used to examine the bodies and the 
crowns. Unless this is done, cases of hold-over will cer- 
tainly be missed. In large, rough-barked trees, a chip 
should be taken out at intervals of about two inches all 
around the crown, as well as higher up on the body. It 
is not necessary to go below the outer layer of soft bark 
tissue, and it is quite unnecessary to cut as far as the 
wood. When the chip is taken out, if the bark tissue 
presents a water-soaked appearance, or if it is of a red or 
perhaps bright red color, it is almost certain that the body 
is infected. When a point of infection is found, it should 
be followed up so as to determine the extent to which the 
infection has run. If careful work of this kind is done, no 
hold-over will escape detection. 

It is a good plan, when ignorant pruners are in the 
orchard, to make them disinfect in the general pruning. 
As a rule, I would suggest that eradication of blight precede 
the general pruning. A special set of skilled help should 
do this work and then the ordinary pruner may follow. Even 
in ordinary pruning it is a safe plan to disinfect when 
leaving each tree in order to avoid carrying the disease in 
case the pruner has cut into an overlooked case of the 
blight. There is a question as to what to do when the 
blight is found running down the bodies and into the roots 



Control of Pear Blight 159 

of trees. Where the disease occurs on limbs it can be 
readily sawed off, as the removal of even the greater por- 
tion of the twigs and the branches by no means entirely 
destroys the value of the tree. The tree will push its nevv^ 
top vigorously, and in two or three years be in full bear- 
ing again. Where the blight has run past the main forks, 
however, a serious question is involved. Where inefficient, 
unskilled labor has to be used and where there is but little 
blight to work out, we advise pulling out all trees where 
it has run down the bodies, or has infected the root 
system. Many growers, when the matter is explained to 
them, condemn such trees and root them out, and thus, of 
course, simplify the matter. On the other hand, it is 
possible to effect an eradication of the blight by carefully 
cutting out the bark, and even the discolored wood, en-, 
tirely beyond the limits of the infection. An jfnch or two 
at the side, and three to six inches at the bottom and top 
of the infection, may be regarded as safe if done during 
the winter. However, such cutting will not do during the 
spring or summer when the sap is flowing rapidly. Sucti 
work invariably results in missing many cases. It is never 
a good plan to leave the matter of working out hold-over 
blight until after the sap begins to flow; the best time to 
do this, and do it successfully, is during the dormant 
period. However, I do not mean to say that hold-over may 
not be removed at any time, but I do mean to say the 
chances for successful operation are very much less, and 
the amount of cutting necessary is always much greater 
and more destructive to the appearance and health of the 
tree. As a general principle, we believe in drawing the 
line on those cases where the blight has gone below the 
crown and into the root system. Even here, however, it 
is possible to dig away the soil and follow up the blight 
on the roots. A tree should never be considered as wholly 
lost where skilled labor may be had, and where the body is 
not completely girdled or where the root system is not too 
badly involved. Where a large portion of the bark must be 
removed from the body, leaving only a small portion to 
carry sap, bridge grafting may be resorted to to fill in 
the part cut away. If this is well done, and if the bared 



160 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

wood has been protected by a white lead paint, a new 
bark covering may be grown. This has been done in a very 
successful way in several instances. In case a tree has 
set a heavy crop of buds for the next year, this plan will 
evenutally help to carry the fruit crop. 

In case a part of the root system, as well as the bark 
and cambium above, must be removed, the parts removed 
may be eventually filled in by planting good young trees 
from the nursery row, setting the roots well down and 
grafting them into the healthy tissues above. These trees 
will tend to grow together and finally fill up the portion 
cut away. Care must be taken, however, that the thrifty 
sprouts from these young trees do not become affected with 
blight. 

Summer cutting intelligently applied may do a great 
deal of good in saving trees which would otherwise be 
lost. This is especially advisable where there is only a lit- 
tle blight in the orchard (by this I mean to say that unless 
the infection is so serious as to necessitate the destruction 
of the entire tree) and it should always be practiced. The 
dry summer weather of most of the Pacific coast country, 
especially from southern Oregon southward, is certainly 
not favorable for new infections, but occasionally sprhig 
rains occur rather late, and sometimes extend into the 
summer and after the blossoming time. Until the present 
year such has not occurred in southern Oregon, but the 
past spring has had several infection periods in which 
conditions have been extremely favorable to the develop- 
ment and spread of the disease. Under eastern con- 
ditions, or where excessive spring and summer rains are 
the rule, summer cutting is only half successful, and has, 
therefore, been condemned by most pear and apple or- 
chardists as a failure. Summer cutting is a failure, or is 
made apparently so by the fact that new infections, invis- 
ible at the time the work is done, may develop in a few 
days so that a week after the most thorough cutting out 
of the blight a new crop of infection is found thriving. 
Another source of difficulty in the spring or summer time 
arises from the rapid extension of the blight infection in 
the branches of varieties that are very susceptible to the 



Manual of Horticulture, Idaho. 
Courtesy of "Better Fruit." 



PLATE XXVII. 




.■^• 





Fig-ure 1 — Bartlett pear tree slmwiiig: tlie 
blight eradicated from the body. It 
wns necessary to cut part of the root 
.svstem away. This tree is capable of 
l/earing a normal crop. (Original photo- 
,L;raph by the author). 



Figure 2 — A bad inlcLiiui di' ihc bud.\- 
and root system. Only a small part of 
the root system left. The tree v.'ill con- 
tinue to bear fruit. (Photograph by tlie 
author). 





Figure 3 — Crown gall on branch of Spitz- 
enberg apple, showing pear blight infec- 
tion. Note the ooze coming out both 
sides of the crown gall. (Original pho- 
tograph by the author). 



Figure 4 — Spitzenberg infected with pear 

blight. Note the two streams of ooze 

running down the body. (Original pho- 
tograph by the author). 



Control of Pear Blight 161 

disease. Sometimes, especially where the infection has 
reached a large leader or the body, the germs often reach 
a foot or two beyond the discoloration, as the disease is 
spreading so rapidly that the bark has not had time to dis- 
color sufficiently to be detected; therefore, in summer cut- 
ting the removal of the infection must be at a greater 
distance from the point of infection than in fall and winter 
work. Experienced men can judge somewhat of the dis- 
tance by the rapidity with which the stained bark blends 
off into the normal bark. Furthermore, a reddish streak 
will often be apparent in the cambium and young wood, 
and by following it up, a clue may be had as to the possible 
trend of the blight. The greater the distance in which the 
blending take$ place the lower the cut must be made, and 
conversely. Disinfection is more important in summer 
cutting than in winter cutting, and, although in the dry 
coast climate the sunlight and dry atmosphere will usually 
take care of most of the germs accidentally left on cul 
surfaces, it is by no means true that infection may not 
take place from such cases. Furthermore, a foggy morn- 
ing following the cutting might spoil the whole procedure, 
so the only safe way is to always disinfect. In a recent 
bulletin published by one of the eastern agricultural col- 
leges the recommendation is made to "disinfect the cut 
or wound and not the tools." This is one of the worst 
mistakes that could be made, and shows that the author 
has never had any practical experience in fighting the dis- 
ease. Often in using the tools, accidental cuts or punctures 
are made, and it may happen that infection may be pro- 
duced by them. As to the choice of a disinfectant, permit 
me to state once more that there is nothing cheaper nor 
better than bichloride of mercury, and any substitute for 
it should not be considered. Always use the proper 
strength, one to 1,000, or even stronger, and accept no 
substitutes. Do the work of summer cutting of blight 
with as great care as possible; if this is not done you may 
reasonably expect to do it all over again, and perhaps 
lose some very valuable trees. 

I notice in a bulletin published by the Oregon Agricul- 
tural College the following statement: "Experience has 



162 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

shown that it is of little permanent value to cut out the 
fruit spurs and twig blight as they appear." This state- 
ment is merely qualified by saying that ''Unless these forms 
of the disease extend into the branches on which they 
occur, and a canker is formed, the disease naturally be- 
comes limited and the germs gradually die, due to drying 
out of the canker, so that at the beginning of the dormant 
season very few such cases show live germs present." 
The above statements do not seem to indicate a knowledge 
of varietal susceptibility nor the effect or influence of cli- 
matic conditions. It would seem to indicate merely a 
study of conditions such as we would find in parts of New 
York, along the great lakes, and in the New England 
states generally. On the Pacific coast conditions are en- 
tirely different. In my experience on the Pacific coast, 
such varieties as the Spitzenberg apple, the Bartlett, How- 
ell, Easter, Bosc and Comice pears are very susceptible, 
and at no time should one disregard the removal of a 
fruit spur or twig which is found to be infected with 
blight. During the past four or five years on the Pacific 
coast, it has been my experience that thousands of trees 
have been saved by the prompt removal of infected twigs 
and fruit spurs. 

I also note in a bulletin published by Cornell Univer- 
sity, which is probably responsible for statements made by 
the author of the Oregon Agricultural College buletin, the 
following: ''Break out all blossom spurs that show the 
disease and remove them from the orchard. * * * The 
removal of these spurs as soon as they show the disease 
will prevent the bacteria from getting into the limbs." 
This advice is almost as absurd as that of not removing 
them at all. Never remove an infected spur by breaking 
it off. First find the limits of the infection and then 
remove the spur with a knife. I have in mind a particular 
case in which the advice "to break off the infected spurs" 
nearly ruined an orchard. It is really too bad that we 
are compelled to speak so plainly in this matter, but in 
our work we have had to contend with growers who take 
every opportunity to avoid doing efficient work, especially 
so when guided by statements published and sent out from 
sources supposed to be reliable and authentic. 



Control of Pear Blight 163 

By far the greater part, probably as high as 80 per 
cent, of the loss of pear trees in California and southern 
Oregon has resulted from body and limb infections through 
water sprouts and low fruit spurs. Water sprouts coming 
up from the root system, even at some distance from the 
base of the tree, have caused fatal infections. Fruit spurs, 
when located on the body or main forks, and becoming 
infected, soon introduce the germs into the thick, fleshy 
bark, which carries much of the sap, and destruction is very 
rapid if the tree is growing rapidly and if it happens to 
be a very susceptible variety. Water sprouts from the 
French stocks on which the majority of our commercial 
varieties are grafted are very susceptible, and should be re- 
moved with the greatest care. It needs no argument there- 
fore, to state that the removal of water sprouts and fruit 
spurs well up on the limbs is an important subsidary practice 
in the control of pear blight. Much of the cutting of 
water sprouts is done by farm hands, who remove them 
so as to leave a stub an inch or so long. The result is that 
several water sprouts come from the same place the next 
year. Water sprouts should always be cut out as far 
in as the wood, and a gouge or sharp saw, although pro- 
ducing a larger cut surface, effectually removes the spur 
for all time. Heavy pruning back of the tops of the 
trees, as generally practiced throughout the coast as a 
means to secure heavy fruit yields, encourages the push- 
ing of these water sprouts so that the problem is really an 
important one. 

Crown galls, which may be found on any part of the 
root system or the body and branches of a tree, should 
always be removed when found. The Spitzenberg is very 
susceptible to crown gall, and it is not infrequent to find 
numerous galls on the body and limbs. The peculiar nature 
of these crown galls is such that pear blight germs find a 
ready entrance. During the past season I have seen hun- 
dreds of infections which entered the trees through crown 
galls. In cutting away crown galls, which in themselves 
are caused by a bacterial organism, the bark and cambium 
should be peeled away at least an inch from the edge of 
the gall, and the gall itself completely cut out with a 



164 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

chisel or g-ouge. Then thoroughly sterilize the exposed 
surface. The reason for going well beyond the outer mar- 
gin of the gall in removing it, is because we find the organ- 
isms causing the crown gall in greatest numbers along 
this margin. 

One matter of very great importance, and which has 
been mentioned before, is the possibility of working all 
the non-resistant varieties of pears and apples on resistant 
stocks or bodies. It has been stated that the Winter Nelis 
and the Kieffer varieties of pears are the most resistant of 
commercial varieties. Under eastern and southern con- 
ditions, the Kieffer pear is really the only one that has 
stood against the ravages of the blight. By this I do not 
mean to say that it is wholly immune, because under 
extreme conditions it will blight. However, the conditions 
on the Pacific coast are such that if the Kieffer were used 
as a stock or body there would be little danger of losing 
the tree by root and body infections. Experience in Cali- 
fornia has shown that while Bartlett and other non-resist- 
ant varieties have blighted as far as the Nelis and Kieffer 
stocks, the infections have usually stopped at the graft 
union. Every pear grower on the coast who has had ex- 
perience with blight knows that Winter Nelis and Kieffer, 
the latter being very rarely grown, seldom blight seriously, 
although they may be surrounded by a great deal of in- 
fection. Of course, we do know, on the ether hand, that 
they are not immune even on the coast. I could offer as 
a suggestion that Kieffer stocks might well be set out 
and afterwards top-grafted to any of the commercial 
varieties of pears. This will, at least, provide resistant 
bodies and roots which will eliminate the danger of loss 
by body and root infection. I vv^ish to urge that the finding 
of a variety of pear entirely immune from pear blignt will 
alone solve the pear blight problem for this tpetiies of pome 
fruit. The same will be true of any other of the pome 
fruits. As soon as an immune is found, the possibilities of 
plant breeding will, no doubt, evolve commercial varieties 
equal to those that we have now, and at the same time they 
will be immune from disease. This is looking far into 
the future, but it will be done as it has been done with 
other plants. 



Control of Pear Blight 165 

Some remarkable cases of eradication have been at- 
tempted and successfully accomplished in California and 
Oregon orchards, notably in the vicinity of Vacaville, Cali- 
fornia, and in the upper Rogue River valley in Oregon. 
In some cases where perhaps fifty per cent of the trees 
were infected on the bodies and in the roots, but still 
had sufficient living bark and a few roots left, the diseased 
portions were completely cut out, even to the removal of 
all the roots on one side of the tree and peeling fully 
three-fourths of the bark from the body. I have noted in 
some instances where fully three dollars in labor was 
expended in removing the blight from a single tree. This, 
of course, is exceptional, but where the value of the 
tree may be placed at from ten to fifty dollars, depending 
on its ability to bear heavy crops of fruit, this would not 
seem to be an undue expenditure in eradicating the 
blight and saving the tree. Many of the trees so treated 
have not lost their vigor and are still bearing good crops 
of fruit. From our standpoint, as pathologists, if pear 
blight is completely removed under antiseptic methods from 
the body and roots, the job is satisfactory. It remains, 
therefore, with the grower to decide how much labor he 
is going to undertake to save the tree. Experience 
throughout the east and south has been that where much 
work of this sort has been attempted on the bodies, numer- 
ous failures have resulted, and the work rendered worse 
than useless. There is also more or less danger, in such 
cases, of the blight in the sap wood. While the germ 
almost wholly lives in the bark and cambium, it is also 
known that it may infect the rich sap wood of the Bartlett, 
Howell, and other varieties of pears. This is also true of 
the Spitzenberg apple. Occasionally it has been noted that 
the germs spread out in the vessels of the wood and live 
on the starch and sugar stored there. It is, therefore, 
desirable to leave all eradication work on the bodies dry 
out thoroughly for perhaps a month or so before painting 
over the wound with white lead paint. If any growth takes 
place the ooze may be detected by the discoloration appear- 
ing on the paint. It is certain that a great deal of blight 
eradication work may be done to the best advantage in the 



166 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

early autumn, for certainly better results may be obtained 
before the fall rains begin. It is also much easier to detect 
the blight which has attacked the branches and twigs 
during the summer, because at this time the foliage gen- 
erally shows where the blight has been working. Besides, 
trees that have the roots infected generally begin to show 
a reddish discoloration in the foliage. A bad body or 
limb infection will also have a tendency to cause the same 
discoloration in the foliage above the infected part. How- 
ever, this reddish discoloration of the foliage is, by no 
means, a certain indication of blight infection, as there are 
many other causes which would produce a like appearance 
in the foliage. Root rot, borers, gophers, or even a girdle 
caused by any means whatever, will produce practically the 
same discoloration. In irrigated orchards where the water 
has been cut off too early in the summer, there is always 
a tendency toward foliage discoloration. The foliage test, 
however, is a sure one that something is wrong with the 
tree, and such a tree should never be passed by without 
making a very critical examination. Never leave a tree 
unless you are absolutely sure of your work. Careless 
inspection and careless eradication are really worse than 
no work at all, for, on the one hand, enough work may be 
done to deceive, while on the other hand the chances for 
infection and subsequent spread of the disease remains. 

Spraying, as a rule, is of little use in controlling the 
blight. In the blooming season new blossoms are opening 
every hour of the day, and new shoots are pushing forth, 
all of which are subject to infection through insect 
agencies. From the standpoint, therefore, of attacking 
the pear blight problem by spraying there is nothing to 
be done so far as the blossoms and young shoots are con- 
cerned. On the other hand, we have been able to cover 
up some mild cases by whitewash, applied thickly, so that 
they were unable, temporarily, to be a source of infection 
during the blossoming season. Whitewashing or spraying 
in the winter time may be of some slight assistance in the 
matter, but it is not recommended. A strong lime-sulphur 
wash applied to the bodies just before the blossoms open 
Avill have a tendency to keep insects away from any infee- 



Control of Pear Blight 167 

tion which would ooze. It must be understood, however, 
that all pear blight infection should be carefully removed, 
and in no case should there be any attempt to cover up 
any known case of hold-over blight. The only reason for 
advocating the strong lime-sulphur wash is that, should 
a case be missed by accident, the use of the wash may pre- 
vent the infection from getting away. Just as soon as it 
is discovered, whether the wash has been applied or not, 
it should be removed. I wish to emphasize that any at- 
tempt to spray or wash may be considered only a tem- 
porary make-shift. If there is a case of hold-over that has 
been covered by spray or wash, it must be eventually re- 
moved, and especially so if it is in the body of the tree. 
The wash in no way controls the spread of the blight in 
the soft bark beneath, its only office is to prevent, if pos- 
sible, the spread of blight to other trees, by preventing in- 
sects from coming into contact with the bacterial ooze. 

There are on the market a number of so-called remedies 
for pear blight. All the concerns selling these remedies 
have no standing whatever, and ther literautre, which is sent 
broadcast over the country, may well be promptly thrown 
in the fire. A favorite remedy is a mixture of potassium 
cyanide and sulphur placed about the roots of the tree. 
Still others consist of such insolubles as charcoal, calomel, 
sulphur, bone black, and other substances put into holes 
bored into the bodies of the trees. In every community 
trees may be found that have been treated in this way, 
and invariably the materials put into the holes has neither 
changed its chemical makeup nor has it diminished in 
quantity by absorption. 

A common remedy is the use of table salt, or even 
some alkali, both of which would be promptly removed 
from the soil if present in too large quantities in nature. 
The use of table salt is merely to inhibit the growth of the 
tree by preventing the normal taking up of water by the 
root system. A tree grown in a very saline soil cannot take 
up water enough to make a strong growth, hence, it does 
not blight badly, perhaps not at all. As indicated before, 
trees grown under good cultivation with sufficient mois- 
ture and plant food make a strong growth, and are, there- 



168 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

fore, more subject to blight. There should be no desire 
on the part of an orchardist to injure his soil, and conse- 
quently, his trees, by adding to the soil any chemical or 
salt known to have a poisonous action, or at lest, an inhib- 
itive effect. Do not take the word of everyone or anyone 
who has something to sell. Before buying any cure or 
remedy, consult someone who can be trusted and who has 
nothing for sale. 

The whole subject of pruning is such a lengthy one 
that it can scarcely be gone into in full detail. However, 
the vase-formed tree, headed low with the main branches 
shortened in to eighteen inches or less, is decidedly the. 
most desirable form to grow a tree. Up to the third year 
the main forks or leaders should be so shortened in so as to 
make a tree with a sturdy framework and at the same time 
keep it down so low as to be accessible for spraying, picking 
fruit, etc. If water sprouts are kept off the body and 
main limbs, and if lateral fruit branches are developed 
within the fruiting area, the most desirable form of tree 
will be produced for controlling the blight. A tree 
pruned to this form, even if infected, has its blossoms 
well away from the vulnerable parts of the tree, namely, 
the body and framework. The tall pyramid, with a single 
main leader and with its long branches covered with fruit 
spurs and water sprouts, makes the work of fighting pear 
blight a difficult one. It is hard to get into the top of the 
tree with this closed center to find out what is going on, 
and, besides, the fruit spurs and water sprouts being close 
to the body as well as upon it, readily carry the blight in, 
usually resulting in the entire loss of the main portion, 
if not the entire tree. One only need look around the 
valley where the pyramidal or central leader type is grown, 
and it will be seen that an infection on the body resulting 
in a girdling of it necessitates the removal of the entire 
center above the point of infection, thus removing prac- 
tically all the heart of the tree's growth. Any of the 
limbs left below the point of infection are usually long and 
slender, and, besides, are usually poorly placed to form a 
P'ood tree of any sort thereafter. The pravailing type of 
Bartlett tree in California is very near the desirable form; 



Control of Pear Blight 169 

however, in many cases, after heading back the trees, they 
have been allov^ed to grow three or four years and then 
reheaded several feet from the crown, sometimes as high 
as fifteen feet, resulting in a two-story pear tree. In very 
few cases has there been any attempt to keep the fruit off 
the main framework branches, and to keep the water 
sprouts and fruit spurs from the bodies and roots. There 
has been no special occasion for forking at the frame- 
v/ork, since at the time the trees were being formed pear 
blight had not made its entrance into the California or- 
chards. Among many growers, especially those of the old 
school, in the Rogue River valley, we find that there is a 
tendency to adhere to the pyramid form of tree in prac- 
tically all varieties grown, even the Bartlett. We readily 
understand why this has been the case, because the pioneer 
fruit growers in the valley recognized only this form of 
tree as being, perhaps the easiest to prune and undoubt- 
edly the easiest to keep from breaking down when heavily 
loaded with fruit. Their weak attempts at forming the 
open-headed tree were failures because during the first 
two or three years of growth they neglected to shorten in 
enough. Even today this is the common error; it would be 
better to shorten to six inches than to lengthen to eighteen 
inches. Now that pear blight has come into the valley, 
this method of pruning, or forming the tree by maintain- 
ing a central leader, will have to be altered. I know of 
perhaps five or six hundred trees that have been wholly 
lost on account of this style of growth; that is to say, 
practically the entire bearing portion of the trees had to 
be taken out on account of blight girdling the leader. In 
mary young orchards which have been planted within the 
past two or three years, the growers are changing them 
into the vase or open-head form, recognizing the great 
difficulty in saving the other type of tree should blight 
become serious. In the larger trees it is a rather difficult 
thing to change them over into the vase form, but in 
every case where blight has seriously damaged such trees 
the resultant tree, of necessity, becomes vase formed when 
the blight is cut out. 

Severe pruning, though in most cases, of course, giving 



170 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

good results in stimulating vigorous twig growth and fruit 
production, tends also to result in more serious attacks of 
the blight. Everyone knows that the more vigorous the 
winter pruning the more luxuriant the twig growth during 
the following season. The result always is that every dor- 
mant bud tends to push, and, being very tender and sappy, 
easily becomes infected and blights badly. On the other 
hand, as soon as the trees come into bearing, summer 
pruning, if practiced in the proper way, will result in a 
more normal vegetative condition, and the tendency to set 
fruit will also be correspondingly greater. A heavy set 
of fruit, other factors being equal, will always tend to 
keep down excessive vigor; and this is usually a good thing 
under Pacific coast conditions, where the growmg season 
is quite long as compared with conditions in the eastern 
sections of the United States. 

Cultivation, fertilization and irrigation are three very 
important factors to be considered in connection with the 
control of pear blight. I shall take these up separately, 
with only as much detail as will make the text plain. 
Thorough cultivation is more essential, especially from 
southern Oregon southward on the Pacific coast, than in 
the east, for the reason that rainfall is not only much 
less, but from the spring of the year until autumn the 
season is practically without precipitation. In districts 
where irrigation is practiced, cultivation is just as neces- 
sary. In the east it is not an uncommon practice to permit 
pear and apple orchards to grow in sod when it is evident 
that the blight is getting beyond control. Everyone knows 
that lack of cultivation induces surface evaporation from 
the soil, and trees are thus made to grow more slowly be- 
cause of lack of moisture, and hence, even very susceptible 
varieties of pears and apples do not blight badly because 
the vegetative vigor is lacking. The necessity for culti- 
vation as well as the method to be used varies so greatly 
in the pacific coast orchards that it is impossible to make 
any general rule. Each soil type requires different treat- 
ment to the end that soil moisture be retained during the 
growing season of the trees. Some of the moist, deep soils 
in the Sacramento river districts, and perhaps in a few 



Control of Pear Blight 171 

spots in the Rogue River valley, retain their moisture so 
well that pears get along very well for a year or so without 
cultivation. On the other hand, practically all of the lands 
in these districts need thorough cultivation to bring them 
up to anything like normal and to mature full crops. 

The matter of fertilization is an important one, especially 
where large crops have been taken for several successive 
years from an orchard. However, it is known that nitrogen- 
ous fertilizers, such as stable manure, as well as commercial 
fertilizers containing large amounts of readily available 
nitrates, tend to produce luxuriant growth, and hence, trees 
so stimulated blight more seriously than those not fertil- 
ized. Fertilizer must be used, but it must be used in 
moderate amounts. There is no advantge in using an ex- 
cess of potash to make the trees more hardy and thus 
more resistant to blight. The fondest hopes of some 
would-be experimenter have been blasted by trying to 
prevent blight injury through the use of potash in the 
form of muriate and sulphate. It is the same old story, the 
blight must be controlled by having no hold-overs present 
during the infection period. I have seen large commercial 
orchards practically ruined in one year where potash was 
used as a preventive against blight, so avoid using it for 
any other purpose than adding fertility to the soil. 

The whole subject of irrigation is so broad that it will 
only be discussed here in its connection with the control 
and eradication of pear blight. While irrigation cannot be 
considered in the same light as rainfall, since it is merely 
water applied to the root system, it is, nevertheless, im- 
portant to understand it thoroughly, especially in con- 
nection with blight control. It has been pointed out that 
periods of rainy weather during the spring and summer 
produce what have been termed infection periods, through 
the wetting of the trees, and thus permitting a spread of 
the infection through infected trees, and making it pos- 
sible for the germs to be more readily distributed over a 
considerable area in any district. The warm, muggy 
weather, such as we find common in the east following 
rainy periods, further tend to influence the spread of in- 
fection. Irrigation in no way induces any of the above 



172 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

conditions, but, on the other hand, its effect is noted in 
the tendency of the trees to push very rapidly under a 
normal water supply and to become sappy and less resist- 
ant to blight. It is well, therefore, to have this in mind, 
and to apply no more water than is actually necessary for 
the production of the crop or the maintaining of a healthy 
condition in the tree. In cases where serious infection 
has made itself apparent, the water should be immediately 
turned off and kept off until the blight is under control. 

It is safe to say that in all irrigated districts some harm 
usually results from over-irrigation rather than under-ir- 
rigation. The tendency to apply too much water is espec- 
ially the great fault with beginners in irrigation. To irri- 
gate properly and scientifically, one should know soil con- 
ditions, soil depths, and drainage. Another important 
factor is a knowledge of the duty of water ; by this it is to 
be understood the amount of water which should be used to 
produce the best results. The Rogue River Valley is so 
situated that a minimum amount of irrigation should be 
used in certain well-defined districts, or, perhaps I might 
say, very small areas. Generally, pears can be grown 
without any irrigation whatever; and with good cultivation 
and proper soil treatment, apples will be able to get along 
fairly well with much less water than is generally sup- 
posed. It is well known that the destruction of pears by 
blight in the San Joaquin Valley, in California, was due as 
much to maintaining too vigorous a growth by irrigation 
as it was through lack of the important detail knowledge 
of fighting it scientifically. Not only were the orchards 
lost, but valuable soils were practically ruined by over- 
irrigation. 

It is a well-settled fact that irrigation is to be practiced 
more or less generally in the Rogue River Valley, but I 
wish to sound this note of warning in regard to the matter 
of over-doing it. It is doubtful if the heavy, black, sticky 
soils of the valley floor are at all benefitted by irrigation; 
I might say that it has been proven that they may be 
injured. 

In the Eastern states it is a very common practice to 
»ow a crop of cow peas, sorghum, or sometimes even Indian 



Control of Pear Blight 173 

corn in the late spring. This is done to take up the sur- 
plus moisture of the soil from the trees, and has a ten- 
dency to check luxuriant growth, and hence acts as a 
check to pear blight. It must be understood, however, that 
the above practice would not be at all advisable in most 
Pacific Coast districts, where there is a shortage of soil 
moisture. There are localities, however, where it may on 
some occasions become necessary to make use of cover 
crops in this way. The use of cover crops on the Pacific 
Coast should be for a whohy different purpose; namely, to 
add fertility to the soil as well as to change its physical 
condition ; in fact, the use of cover crops may be considered 
to serve the same purpose as stable manure in making the 
soil more easily tilled and rendering it in better condition 
for giving up plant food. Cover crops of vetch or cow 
peas, of course, add nitrogen to the soil, and, from this 
standpoint, it is perhaps better that these leguminous plants 
should be used in preference to rye, or any of the grains 
or grasses. On some soils such cover crops as rye or 
wheat do not give the best results, especially on the sticky 
soils. It usually takes a great deal of labor to produce a 
good soil mulch after turning under a crop of rye. 

The rule in the pear orchards of the Eastern states has 
been to keep the trees in a half-starved condition for fear 
blight would destroy them. Orchard treatment of this 
kind naturally renders the fruit less luscious and with a 
distinctly poorer flavor than fruit grown under good cul- 
tivation. While I would advise a good deal of caution in 
producing too vigorous or sappy a tree, where there is 
serious danger of destruction by blight, I would not advise 
the pear and apple growers of the Pacific Coast to starve 
or under-cultivate or under-prune their trees; but I do 
mean to say that they should practice moderation in all 
these things. This is especially true in districts where the 
blight is new to them, and where they are not thoroughly 
acquainted with the methods of eradicating it from their 
orchards and keeping it under control. Pear blight is so 
different from all other orchard diseases, which respond so 
readily to spray treatments, that it has been the general 
rule for whole communities, and even states, to lose all 



X74 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

their orchards before being brought to a realization of the 
necessity for studying the disease carefully and obeying to 
the letter the instructions for combating it. 

In a preceding chapter, mention was made of the en- 
ormous losses in the pear districts of the San Joaquin val- 
ley, California. In the short space of three years, from 
1900 to 1904, almost half a million pear trees were lost by 
blight. Practically no attempt was made to check the 
disease, and one of the greatest industries of the San 
Joaquin Valley vanished like a dream, and even before the 
people realized what had befallen them. As in other 
localities, East and South, the growers had a self-sufficient 
and self-satified feeling that blight could never hurt them. 
They had grown pears for a quarter of a century and 
more, and such a thing as blight entering their valley was 
just as impossible as anything one might imagine. 

In all that time, thunder, lightning, excessive heat, 
cold, etc., had caused not the slightest injury. However, 
as soon as blight came, all the factors mentioned above 
seemed to explain their predicament fully; they needed no 
help and spurned assistance. This is the story, in a few 
words, a story which might be told of many other locali- 
ties which had suffered the same calamity. 

In 1904 the blight invaded the pear district of the 
Sacramento Valley, and although some little work was done 
in the matter of eradicating it, the efforts were weak and 
ineffective. Prominent men in the state became alarmed, 
and the pathologists of the United States Department were 
called to the Coast. In the fall of 1904 Professor M. B. 
Waite made his first visit to California, and inaugurated 
a plan of campaign for eradicating it, or at least keeping 
it under control. I may say that the Government patho- 
logists did not come to the Pacific Coast until they were 
called. Such influential men as Ex-Governor Pardee and 
prominent Southern Pacific officials appealed to Hon. James 
Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture, to send as many men as 
he had available, to aid in what was thought to be almost 
a hopeless case. Blight was everywhere, with the excep- 
tion of the Santa Clara Valley, which to this day has kept 
it out by very careful and hard work. The task under- 



Control of Pear Blight 175 

taken was an enormous one, and the amount of territory 
necessary to be covered was so large that every available 
source of help was called for, and the campaign finally 
started in the early winter of 1905. The time was short, 
but good work was done. In many districts where there 
was a willingness to co-operate with the Government 
officers the blight was checked; in others, where conditions 
were the reverse, the blight gained headway. The result 
of several year's work, which has been carried on up to 
the present time by the United States Department of Ag- 
riculture, is that several districts in the Sacramento Val- 
ley and adjacent valleys, have saved their pears. There 
are particular instances where practically everything went 
excepting single orchards which were saved by individual 
growers, by using heroic measures and carrying into 
effect every detail given them by the Government officers. 
To this day these men continue to grow pears, while their 
neighbors are entirely out of the business. They are 
charged with being lucky, but there is no luck in fighting 
pear blight; it is careful attention to details and constant 
watchfulness. Among those who have been successful m 
fighting pear blight is Howard Reed, of Marysville, Cali- 
fornia. Mr. Reed, with 6,000 Bartletts, has lost relatively 
few, although the diflEiculties he had to overcome would 
have discouraged the average man. Three years ago his 
orchard was under water on account of the overflow from 
the Yuba River, and he was compelled to fight pear blight 
from boats and rafts. To show you how well he has won 
out in the fight, I will simply state that his crop two years 
ago was fifty carloads of first-class fruit, which he shipped 
to Eastern markets. Besides his green fruit, he driea 
something over twenty-five tons. I cannot help pointing 
to Mr. Reed as an example for everyone to follow. He 
has made doubly good because he had to fight not only the 
blight but the mossback community in which he lived. 

In the foothill districts of Eldorado, Placer and Nevada 
Counties, to the east of Sacramento, the loss has been ex- 
ceedingly light. The growers in these sections began their 
fight at an early stage of the game and have kept it up 
unceasingly, so that at this time there are probably no 



176 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

fewer bearing pear trees than there were four or five 
years ago. In Placer County alone, at the time I first 
began my work there, ten inspectors, including the horti- 
cultural commissioners of the county, were put on, and the 
work of eradication was thoroughly done. 

It would be very difficult to tell how many trees were 
lost in California over the entire state, but the figures taken 
from the carload shipments will tell the story pretty well. 
In 1900 California shipped 2,115 carloads of pears and in 
the same year 7,275 tons were dried, and perhaps half a mil- 
lion cases were canned. In 1907 only 1,039 cars were shipped 
and only 500 tons were dried. We have no data on the 
canned product, but it is well known that it fell off cor- 
respondingly. Such figures should strike terror into any 
community whose industry is that of growing pears and 
apples. 

In the Rogue River Valley and in Southern Oregon we 
find a magnificent soil for pear and apple growing. At 
this time, with the valley only partially developed, the es- 
timated value of the orchards reaches far into the millions. 
Pear blight has not been in the valley very long, but it is 
here and must be considered seriously. Only in three or 
four cases has it done any serious damage, and the total 
loss for the entire valley in pears and apples is probably 
not more than 2,000 trees. The highest recorded loss in 
one orchard is perhaps 500 or 600 trees, and this loss 
might have been avoided if the owner had taken the proper 
steps in eradicating a very few cases of hold-over blight. 
Another orchard lost nearly 200 trees, but these were 
mostly infected and practically destroyed before it was 
known that blight existed in the valley. The writer first 
came into the valley in 1907, and since that time a very 
strenuous fight has been kept up. As in California, we 
had to fight stupidity and ignorance, but, for the most part, 
the growers have swung into line and are putting up a 
good fight. Very slight losses have occurred during the 
past two years, and these losses have been mostly in the 
villages and towns, and in the old home orchards, where it 
is difficult to make the owners see the necessity of cleaning 
up. The commercial orchards have done excellent work. 



Ma,niial of Horticulture, Idaho. 



PLATE XXVm, 




ELRERTA rEACTI 



Control of Pear- Blight 177 

Even the largest orchard ; in the valley have demonstrated 
the effectiveness of careful eradication. At this time it is 
a pleasure to visit them and see the heavily laden pear and 
apple trees with not a blighted spur or twig upon them. 

The importance of the pear blight problem to the hor- 
ticultural interests of the Pacific Coast states emphasizes 
very clearly the value and necessity of plant pathological 
work. What each district needs is a strong man who is 
both scientific and practical, for handling such a difficult 
problem. Not only does each district need the constant 
and careful attention of a trained pathologist, but it needs 
inspectors and commissioners who will see to it that the 
horticultural statutes are rigidly enforced. If a grower 
chooses to lose his crop by any disease which is not con- 
sidered contagious or spreading, and which may readily 
be controlled by simple spray treatments, it is his own 
lookout; but where his pears and apples are a source of 
general infection from pear blight it becomes a matter for 
the district commissioner and local inspector. There is 
only one remedy, and that is to increase the inspection and 
make it rigid. Perhaps one other thing might be added. 
It would be a wise plan for each county or district to ap- 
point a large number of volunteer inspectors who would 
serve without pay in their own interest, but who would be 
vested with authority to inspect and condemn within their 
immediate neighborhood. 

At this time the Rogue River Valley has the best equip- 
ment for fighting blight known to the country. In Jack- 
son County alone, besides a pathologist in charge, there is 
a chief inspector and four deputies. These men report 
daily to the central office, and keep a careful record of their 
work. In addition, there are over fifty deputy horticultural 
commissioners, so distributed as to give each neighborhood 
one or more men who work in conjunction with the in- 
spectors. These men are given full authority to enforce 
the horticultural laws. Being owners, they have a direct 
interest. 

To those who have read the preceding chapters care- 
fully, it may seem unnecessary to add anything more, as it 
is believed that all of the important facts about pear blight 



178 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

have been clearly stated. However, a resume will bring 
before us all the pertinent facts so that the reader may 
see at a glance what he may want to know without reading 
the text again. 

1. The history of pear blight dates from the year 1780, 
the first record was published in 1794 in the transactions 
of the Massachusetts Society for the Promotion of Agri- 
culture. This first paper on pear blight gave to the high- 
lands of the upper Hudson the distinction of being the 
birthplace of the disease. However, at the time of the 
discovery, the disease had a wider spread throughout the 
New England states than has been recorded. 

2. The disease known as pear blight is not known 
outside of North America. Europe, Asia, Australia and 
all other parts of the known world are free from the 
disease. 

3. The true character of the disease was worked out 
by Professor T. J. Burrell, of the University of Illinois, in 
1878, and was published to the world in 1880. Dr. Burrell 
found that the disease is caused by a small germ belonging 
to the great family of bacteria, which are minute, micro- 
scopic plants, the smallest vegetable organism in the world. 
The pear blight bacillus is only 1-50,000 of an inch in 
diameter and about 1-25,000 of an inch in length; under 
the miscroscope, when magnified 1,000 diameters, its ap- 
pearance is that of a hyphen (-) . 

4. The pear blight germ attacks all species belonging 
to the pome or apple family and also in a small way infects 
plums and the apricot. Among the cultivated fruits, there- 
fore, it attacks the apple, pear, quince, loquat, plum and 
apricot. The following wild fruits indigenious to the 
Pacific Coast states are also attacked by it. I shall give 
the common names and after them the botanical or scien- 
tific names, so that students of botany may be able to 
look them up : 

(a) Service berry or June berry (Amelanchier alni- 
folia) . 

(b) Thorn apple or haw (Crataegus douglasii). 

(c) Christmas berry or Toyon (Heteromeles arbuti- 
folia) . 



Control of Pear Blight 179 

(d) Wild pear or apple (Pyrus rivularis). 

(e) Mountain ash or rowan (Sorbus occidentalis) . 
There are many more species of the above genera to be 

found in the Eastern and Southern states, but a knowledge 
of the fact that all pome fruits blight should be sufficient. 

5. The damage by blight in the Eastern and Southern 
states has been such that practically all of the better varie- 
ties of pears have gone out and commercial pear growing 
is an industry of the past. 

6. The blight has spread into every known section of 
the United States, Southern Canada and Northern Mexico; 
only a very few small districts still remaining free from it. 

7. The first appearance of the blight is made evident 
by the blossoms and young shoots becoming withered and 
black, finally drying up. Later, branches and limbs, as 
well as the bodies and root system, become infected. Even 
the fruit may become infected and wither away. 

8. The infections first noted in the spring come from 
hold-over cases which have resulted from the previous 
year's infection. These hold-overs may be found in the 
larger limbs, bodies and roots of the pear, apple, quince, 
loquat and even our wild fruits, though less frequently. 
During the blossoming period these hold-overs ooze and 
this gummy substance, which is filled with the bacteria, 
become points for the starting of new infections in the 
blossoms and twigs. 

9. The germs from the hold-overs are carried about 
by bees and other insects. Biting and sucking insects 
cause infections in the young twigs, and even the bodies. 
Sapsuckers, or woodpeckers, may also spread the blight. 
The use of pruning tools, not disinfected, also spreads it. 
The blight may also enter small growth cracks in the 
twigs, limbs, bodies and roots, and through crown galls. 

10. Weather conditions favor the spread of blight, as 
well as favoring infection. Dry weather tends to prevent, 
not only the spread of infection from tree to tree, but 
also the spread of the disease in the tree itself. It is as 
easy to understand this as it is to understand that dry 
weather prevents growth and germination of seeds and 
plants. 



180 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

11. Thunder, lightning and other atmospheric disturb- 
ances have no influence whatever on the disease known a$ 
pear blight. The precipitation which accompanies them ib 
the only factor besides warmth. 

12. The only way to control blight is to remove all 
cases of hold-over before the blossoming period begins. 
Hold-overs removed during the blossoming period do not 
insure that some infection has not taken place from them. 
To remove hold-overs, or rather to find them on the rough 
bodies use a gouge or some other instrument with which 
to expose the tissues beneath. A water-soaked, reddish 
condition of the soft bark indicates infection, which should 
be antiseptically removed. 

13. The antiseptic to be used should be bichloride of 
mercury, or corrosive sublimate, and use no other. This 
disinfectant should be used at a strength of one to 1,000, 
or perhaps stronger, but never weaker. The use of the 
various substitutes in a senseless practice, as there is 
nothing cheaper or more effective as a disinfectant than bi- 
chloride of mercury. It is a deadly poison and must be 
kept away from children, and the containers should be 
plainly labeled so that unsuspecting persons may not be 
poisoned. 

14. There are no remedies for pear blight, and all so- 
called patent washes or other "remedies" should be avoid- 
ed. Anyone who claims to have a cure for pear blight is a 
"fake," and should be treated accordingly. Those having 
"remedies" for sale have no standing whatever; if they 
had they would not oppose every scientific fact known. 

15. Summer cutting of blight should always be done, 
but the work, to be effective, must be done carefully. 
Always be sure to get below or above the point of infec- 
tion. If infection is found in a fruit spur or water sprout 
never break them off unless you know how far the infection 
has gone. There is no further danger in the dead spur, but 
rather in the infection which has advanced beyond it. 
Breaking off the spur and then applying the disinfectant is 
not eradicating the blight. Never leave an infection until 
you know that there is no further danger from it. Remem- 
ber there is no such thing as "pretty good work;" the work 
is either good or bad. 



Control of Pear Blight 181 

16. In order to render the fighting of pear blight more 
easy, trees should be pruned in the vase or open head form. 
Never grow a tree with a main leader or center. Keep all 
water sprouts and fruit spurs off the body and main limbs 
of the tree. Let no water sprouts come up from the crown 
of the tree or the root system. Be sure to cut out all 
crown galls. 

17. When blight is prevalent or when seasons con- 
ducive to blight occur, extreme caution should be used in 
the matter of using stable manure, commercial fertilizer or 
applying too much water. Irrigation practice should be 
studied carefully, not only in connection with blight control, 
but with benefits or injuries which may result to the soil. 

18. The only way to keep blight under control is to in- 
crease the inspection and make it rigid. If a grower is 
caught experimenting, or not following out the directions 
for eradicating blight according to the letter of the law, 
force him by law to do whatever the inspector has ordered. 
I believe besides the regular corps of inspectors we should 
have volunteer inspectors who will look after their own in- 
terests by investigating the condition of neighboring or- 
chards. Their appointment may be made in the regular 
way, making them officers of the law having the right to 
enter upon a neighbor's premises. If this had been done in 
certain districts the past year, several infection centers 
would have been wiped out. There would have been no in- 
fection and a good many dollars saved. 

19. Lastly, in closing permit me to say that as indi- 
viduals you have a right and a duty to follow the advice 
and instructions which have been given you for eradicating 
and controlling blight. A government officer, who has had 
technical and practical experience all over the United 
States for a period of years, certainly knows the situation, 
and there is no reason for doubting his words. 

As a friend, I ask you all not to trifle with blight; it is 
too serious a matter. The value of the fruit interests is 
too great to be trifled away by individuals who have neither 
knowledge nor practice sufficient to devise more efficient 
means than have already been worked out by the patho- 
logists of the United States Department of Agriculture, 



182 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

whose entire energy is given to the practical side of fight- 
ing diseases. You have a United States Department of 
Agriculture, therefore, respect the advice it is able to give 
you through its agents. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

PREPARATION OF SPRAYING MATERIALS. 
COMPILED BY J. U. MCPHERSON. 

INSECT PESTS. 

For the intelligent and practical employment of insecti- 
cides, it is necessary to comprehend the nature of the 
pests and the injury inflicted by them. The great mass of 
harm to growing plants from insects, falls under two dis- 
tinct heads, based on two distinct principles of food econ- 
omy, viz., Biting insects, (Mandibulate) which actually 
masticate their food and swallow it, and sucking insects 
(Haustellate) which absorb juices. Each group involves 
a special treatment. For insects that chew and swallow 
their food (which include the majority of dangerous 
larvse, all beetles, and the locust family) the best method 
of control is by spraying with poison that may be safely 
applied to the leaves or other parts of the plant attacked. 
Thus the insect will swallow a portion of the poison with 
its food. 

Poison should never be applied where the parts them- 
selves are to be shortly used for food, either by man or 
beast. Spraying under this head must be done when the 
foliage is on the trees. 

All sucking insects are destroyed by applying insecti- 
cides directly to them or to their eggs in the dormant 
season (killing by contact) as it is impossible to poison 
them on account of their method of feeding, which is by 
inserting their proboscis and sucking sap from the plant. 
The application can be made either in summer or winter, 
as the case may be. 

FUNGUS DISEASES. 

Cultivated plants are beset by many enemies. Some of 
these belong to the animal and some to the vegetable 
kingdom. To the former belong the insects, and to the 



184 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

latter the parasitic fungi. By the development of these 
parasites on growing plants or trees, the peculiar malady- 
known as fungus diseases is produced. The term "fungi" 
takes within its scope the lower forms of plant life, such 
as molds, mildews, rusts, blights and similar organizations. 
Instead of growing in the earth as do trees or bushes, they 
grow on, and take their nourishment, for the most part, 
from the higher orders of plants that we cultivate in our 
orchards and gardens. Parasitic fungi in many of their 
forms are enemies of the farmer and fruit grower, par- 
tially, and often entirely, destroying the crops. Spraying 
for fruit diseases is preventative rather than curative. 
The work of prevention should begin in the dormant sea- 
son, when strong remedies may be used to destroy the 
spores or germs. This can be thoroughly done at this 
season, on account of the absence of any foliage. For all 
fungus diseases, there is no better remedy in the dormant 
season than Remedy No. 1 given in this report; and for 
spraying for fungus diseases when plants are in leaf, all 
things considered, the Bordeaux mixture has been found 
the most effectual. 

REMEDY NO. 1. 

To be used in the dormant season for scale, pear leaf 
blister-mite, aphis eggs, etc., or fungus diseases of any kind. 

Formula. 

Sulphur 20 lbs. 

Unslacked lime 40 lbs. 

Water 60 gals. 

For a greater or less quantity the ratio would be 1 lb. 
salt, 2 lbs. sulphur, 4 lbs. lime to every 6 gals, water. 

Directions — Place 20 gallons of water in a boiler and 
heat to a boiling point. (The amount of water should be 
varied according to the size of the boiler). While this is 
being done, place the lime, sulphur and salt in a large 
barrel or vat and slake the lime by adding water in suffi- 
cient quantities to do so properly, keeping it well stirred, 



Preparation of Spraying Materials 185 

mixing the lime, sulphur and salt thoroughly. When this 
operation is completed add enough water to the contents of 
the barrel or vat to reduce it to a somewhat thick liquid 
and strain the mixture into the boiler. (Common wire 
window screen netting fastened to a wooden frame is the 
best). Boil the mixture for one and one-half hours, or 
longer. When ready for use, dilute with enough water to 
make 60 gallons. Use this spray hot, as better results are 
obtained. 

In extreme cases of scale two sprayings, a few days 
apart, should be resorted to. 

This mixture is seldom used now, the manufactured 
preparation taking its place. 

REMEDY NO. 2. 

For codling moth, or leaf eating insects. 

Formula. 

Six ounces Paris green diluted with 50 gallons of water. 

Directions — Place the poison with an equal quantity of 
powdered lime in a small vessel with enough water to make 
a thin paste. Let it stand for about 10 hours before using. 
Keep the liquid well agitated when spraying, in order that 
it may be evenly distributed on the tree. 

REMEDY NO. 3. 

For codling moth, or leaf eating insects. 

Formula. 

White arsenic (powdered) 1 pound 

Salsoda (lump) 4 pounds 

Water 1 gallon 

Directions — Place arsenic and salsoda in a vessel con- 
taining one gallon of hot water and boil for 15 minutes, or 
until it is all dissolved. Put the liquid in a jug, cork it up 
and label it "Poison" in the plainest manner, and lock it 
up securely until needed. 



186 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

Use 1 pint of this liquid to each 50 gallons of water, 
adding three pounds of quick-lime, slaked in water, before 
using. 

Note — For the last spray use 6 lbs. of salsoda 
in preparing the arsenic and use 1 quart of glucose to each 
50 gallons of the spray, instead of the lime. This is 
advisable in order to avoid having so much lime on the 
apples at picking time. 

REMEDY NO. 4. — LEAD ARSENATE. 

For codling moth, or leaf eating insects. 

Formula. 

Arsenate of lead 5 to 6 pounds 

Water 100 gallons 

REMEDY NO. 5. 

For Aphis. 

Formula 

American concentrated lye 2 pounds 

Resin 6 pounds 

Water 55 gallons 

Directions — Place the lie and resin in a boiler holding 
25 gallons of water. Boil until the lye and resin are dis- 
solved. Strain into the spraying tank, or barrel, adding 
enough warm water to make 50 gallons. Use hot, as the 
resin will precipitate if the liquid gets cold. 

REMEDY NO. 6. 

Formula 

Whale oil soap 1 pound 

Kerosene 2 gallons 

Water 1 gallon 

A good grade of hard or soft soap may be used. 



Preparation of Spraying Matet^ials 187 

Directions — Dissolve the soap in one gallon of water by 
heating. Remove from the fire. While hot, add two gal- 
lons of kerosene and churn the liquid with a force pump 
by pumping the liquid back into the vessel that contains it 
until a perfect emulsion is formed. It will then be a 
creamy substance. One gallon of the mixture should be 
diluted with 9 gallons of water when spraying apples, pears 
or prunes. When used on peaches and rose bushes, it 
should be diluted 1 gallon to 15 gallons of water. 

REMEDY NO. 7. 

The Bordeaux Mixture — For fungus diseases, to be 
used in the summer time. 

Formula 

Water 60 gallons 

Copper sulphate 6 pounds 

Unslaked lime 4 pounds 

Directions — Dissolve 6 pounds of copper sulphate 
(bluestone) in water in a wooden vessel to prevent corro- 
sion of metal. It dissolves most readily in hot water. Add 
several gallons of water. Reduce 4 to 6 pounds of good 
lime, that which has not been air-slacked, to a lime-milk, 
by the slow addition of water and constant stirring with a 
hoe. Add several gallons of water. Strain both bluestone, 
water and milk of lime through a wire screen into a com- 
mon wooden tub, mix carefully with a hoe, until a pretty 
blue mixture is the result. Pour this mixture into your 
spray-barrel, add water enough to make 45 gallons in all, 
stir well with a hoe, or with an automatic stirrer in the 
barrel, when the mixture is ready for use. The writer 
prefers the use of the hoe in all cases to any automatic 
device. Cut a hole in the spray barrel, large enough to 
hold the entering pipe to the pump and allow the insertion 
of a hoe as well. The man who manages the pump can, 
at the same time, occasionally stir up the mixture. 

TESTING. 
To determine whether the mixture is perfect, that is> 



188 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

if it will be safe to apply to tender foliage, a simple test 
may be used. Insert the bright blade of a penknife in the 
mixture, allowing it to remain there for at least one minute. 
If metallic copper forms on the blade, or, in other words, 
if the polished surface of the steel assumes the color of 
copper plate, the mixture is unsafe and more lime must be 
added. If, on the other hand, the blade of the knife re- 
mains unchanged, it is safe to conclude that the mixture 
is as perfect as can be made. 

STOCK MIXTURE. 

If spraying is to be done on a large scale, it will be 
found much more convenient and economical in every way 
to prepare what are known as stock solutions of both 
the copper and the lime. To prepare a stock solution of 
copper sulphate, procure a barrel holding 50 gallons, weigh 
out a hundred pounds of copper sulphate and after tying 
it in a sack, suspend it so that it will hang as near the top 
of the barrel as possible, fill the barrel with water, and in 
two or three days the copper will be dissolved. Now remove 
the sack and add enough water to bring the solution to the 
50 gallon mark previously marked on the barrel. It will 
be understood, of course, that this second adding of 
water is merely to replace the space previously occupied 
by the sack and the crystals of the copper sulphate. Each 
gallon of the solution thus made will contain two pounds of 
copper sulphate. 

Under all ordinary conditions of temperature there will 
be no material recrystalization, so that the stock prepara- 
tion may be kept indefinitely. Stock lime may be prepared 
in much the same way as the copper sulphate solution. Pro- 
cure a barrel holding 50 gallons, making a mark to indicate 
the 50 gallon point, weigh out 100 pounds of fresh lime, 
place in the barrel and slack it. When slacked, add sufficient 
water to bring the whole mass up to 50 gallons. Each gal- 
lon of this preparation contains, after thorough stirring, 
2 pounds of lime. When it is desired to make Bordeaux 
mixture of the 50 gallon formula, it is only necessary to 
measure out 3 gallons of the stock copper solution, and 



Preparation of Spraying Materials 189 

after thoroughly stirring, 2 gallons of stock lime. Dilute 
each to 25 gallons, mix, stir and test as already described. 
One test will be sufRcient in this case; in other words, it 
will not be necessary to test each lot of Bordeaux mixture 
made from the stock preparation, provided the first lot is 
perfect and no change is made in the quantities used. 
Special care should be taken to see that the lime-milk is 
stirred thoroughly before applying. As a final precaution 
it will be well to keep the stock copper sulphate and stock 
lime tightly covered. 

REMEDY NO. 8. 

For Aphis. 
Formula 

Whale oil soap 1 pound 

Quassia chips 1 pound 

Water 10 gallons 

Directions — Boil the quassia chips in two gallons of 
water for two hours. In another vessel dissolve the whale 
oil soap in two gallons of water by heating. Mix the two 
together and dilute to 10 gallons. Warm water is prefer- 
able. 

REMEDY NO. 9. 

For Cabbage Aphis. 
Formula 

Whale oil soap 1 pound 

Water 10 gallons 

(Any good grade of hard soap will answer). 

Directions — Dissolve the soap by heating in one gallon 
of water; then add nine gallons of water to this. Spray 
the infested plants with an atomizer or hand pump with the 
nozzle turned so the under side, or any part of the leaves 
can be reached. Apply with as much force as possible, so 
that the mixture comes in contact with the insects. From 



190 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

one to three applications of this will rid the garden of this 
pest. 

REMEDY NO. 10. 

For ants or other insects living underground — bisulphide 

of carbon. 

Locate the ant mound or nest. Take a small iron bar 
or other instrument and penetrate the ground to the 
proper depth about 1 foot apart, over the infested area. 
Pour in about 1 tablespoonful of carbon in each hole, im- 
mediately covering the hole with earth. One treatment is 
usually sufficient. 

Caution — Bi-sulphide of carbon is an explosive and no 
fire should be allowed near it. 

ANIMAL PESTS AND REMEDIES. 
JACKRABBITS. 

A good rabbit-tight fence is the best and safest remedy, 
but in the absence of this some other safeguard should be 
sought for. Trunks of trees may be protected by wooden 
guards made of slats woven together with wire, or by being 
wrapped with cloth, burlap or even good, strong paper. 
For destroying jackrabbits in a wholesale way the follow- 
ing remedy is good: 

Dissolve 1 ounce of strychnine in 5 gallons of water by 
heating. Place a small bundle of good clover or alfalfa 
hay in an inclosure where no domestic animals can get to 
it, yet open enough for the rabbit to get at the hay. 
Thoroughly dampen it with the liquid poison. In the 
absence of other food the rabbits will eat the hay, which 
means certain death to them. 

Caution — Care should be taken to keep all other animals 
away from the poisoned hay and what remains after the 
desired results are obtained should be burned without 
delay. 



Preparation of Spraying Materials 191 

MICE. 

Mice sometimes become quite a serious pest, eating the 
bark from the roots near the surface and as high on the 
body of the tree as they can reach. 

Treatment — Keep all rubbish out of the orchard. Clear 
away all of the grass and weeds around the trees and do 
not allow the trees to be banked up with earth, as it makes 
a harbor for the mice. Use one of the formulas for pois- 
oned grain given below. 

Remedy — Dissolve 1 ounce of strychnine in 2 ounces 
of acetic acid. Then add one ounce of oil of rhodium. 
Dilute with enough water to thoroughly soak one bushel of 
wheat. Scatter the wheat around the trees and near the 
runways where the mice are found. One tablespoonful 
will usually be sufficient in one place. 

Caution — Keep the fowls away from the poisoned 
wheat. 

KANSAS FORMULA FOR POISON FOR MICE. 

Remedy No. 2 — One ounce of green coffee berries are 
pulverized and mixed with the whites of two eggs and 
allowed to stand for at least fourteen hours. An ounce 
of strychnia sulphate is dissolved in half a pint of boil- 
ing water. To mix, add a little warm water to the coffee 
egg mixture, and after stirring well strain this through a 
coarse sieve into the mixing vessel. Then add a pint of 
molasses or syrup. To the hot solution of strychnine add 
one and one-half ounces of alcohol, and pour this into the 
other mixture slowly, stirring thoroughly. 

The mixture can now be put into a glass jar and used 
at any time. The amounts above mentioned should do for 
half a bushel of wheat or rye, and the grain can be pois- 
oned in any quantity desired at a time by pouring over it 
the proper amount of liquid and mixing thoroughly, so 
that each grain gets its portion; then spread out on paper 
to dry. Do not forget that you are working with a deadly 
poison, so do not run any risks. Keep it where neither 
children nor valuable fowls may get it. A few grains in 
or near each burrow will do the work. 



Manual of Horticulture. Idaho. 



PLATE XXIX. 




WAGENER 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
REPORTS OF DISTRICT INSPECTORS. 

District No. l. 

Coeur cVAlene, Idaho. 
Mr. John U. McPherson, 

State Horticultural Inspector, 
Boise, Idaho. 

Dear Sir — x4s requested I send report of District No, 1, 
comprised of Bonner, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, for 
the years 1911 and 1912. 

I am glad to report that our nurserymen ship in much 
better trees than when I first inspected stock in 1907, and I 
think the credit is partly due to our inspection law, and 
will say the same about our orchards. We have clean fruit 
because all orchardists are compelled to spray, and if the 
horticultural appropriation were three times as large, then 
the field workers could boast of one of the cleanest fruit 
states in the Union, but where an inspector is limited to 
one hundred days a year, he does not get time to go over 
his district. 

In District No. 1, in 1911, 262,600 trees were planted, 
and in 1912, 221,460 were planted, making orchard acreage 
up to November 5th, 1912, 16,423 acres. 

I have traveled, through the years 1911 and 1912, 3,084 
miles. 

All our truck and large orchardists are spraying nov»^ 
this fall, with sulphur-lime spray, 10 to 1. We have no 
San Jose scale in this district, but we have the rest, includ- 
ing scab, which is harder to fight than any other pest, as 
we have 40 inches of precipitation in this locality. 

The number of trees planted in the past five years are: 
1907, 1,714 acres; 1908, 6,540; 1910, 8,403; 1911, 13,655; 
1912, 16,423. 

The largest amount of appropriation for one year's 



194 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

work ever allowed this district, and I to pay my own 
expenses, was $500, not one-third enough to do the work. 

Yours sincerely, 
(Signed) William Buckley, 

Deputy Inspector, Dist. No. 1. 

District No. 2. 

Moscow, Idaho. 
Mr. J. U. McPherson, 

State Horticultural Inspector, 
Boise, Idaho. 

Dear Sir — I respectfully submit the following report for 
District No. 2, which comprises all of Latah county and 
that part of Nez Perce county situated north of the rim- 
rock. It is fifty miles long and from thirty to forty miles 
wide. The railroad connections are very bad and it is 
necessary to travel on two different railroads to get to 
many points in my district, the greater part of the travel- 
ing being done through Washington. 

There are a number of very good commercial orchards 
in bearing at this time, and a large number of orchards 
are set out each year. 

Latah county has become quite famous in the past two 
years for its apples. In 1911 the Wagner apples in Latah 
county took sweepstakes at the National Apple Show at 
Spokane, and in 1912 we took second prize at the Apple 
Show on our mixed car. 

The principal varieties of apples raised here are the 
Rome Beauty, Wagner and Jonathan. Many other varie- 
ties are grown in this district, but these I consider our best 
apples. Most any variety of small fruit can be raised 
here, but very little of such fruit is raised commercially. 

Our crop of apples for 1911 was only about two-thirds 
of what it has been for 1912. We have an exceptionally 
large crop this year, as is reported from all districts, and 
the growers report that it is hard to market their fruit. 
However, there has been a good cannery installed at 
Juliaetta, and a good vinegar factory at Moscow. The 



Reports of District Inspectors 195 

two by-products houses are aiding the farmers in disposing 
of their products. 

The worst pests with which we have to contend in my 
district are codling moth, blight, apple scab, and scale in 
the southwestern part. The codling moth has not been 
very bad this year, but the apple scab has been quite bad, 
owing to the heavy rainfall in our county. The blight is 
getting quite badly scattered, and needs close attention 
to prevent it spreading further infection. The scale is 
quite a problem in and around Juliaetta, as it is found 
on most all the underbrush for miles up and down the 
creek. Some of this land is state land and will have to be 
cleaned up by the state. 

We must have more money to carry on the inspection 
work, or little or no headway can be made. District No. 
2 is allowed $400.00 per year, but some additional sums 
have been added to this each year by the Board. There is 
absolutely nothing in the work for a man at wage per 
year, when you take into consideration his board and other 
expenses. 

The fruit growers are much interested in inspection 
work and I believe, with a combined effort, that we can 
get a good appropriation to carry on the inspection work 
in the state this coming year. 

I presented a petition to the county commissioners, 
which was signed by the leading fruit growers of my dis- 
trict, asking for a sum of money to carry on the work, 
but they were unable to help out in our work this year. 

Respectfully yours, 
(Signed) W. C. Edmundson, 

Deputy Inspector, Dist. No. 2, 

District No. 3. 

Lewiston, Idaho. 
Mr. J. U. McPherson, 

State Ho7'ticultural Inspector, Boise, Idaho. 

Dear Sir — At your request, I submit the following re- 
port as to the general conditions of the orchards in Nez 
Perce county. 



196 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

I consider the orchards in this district to be in first 
class condition, especially do I find the commercial orchards 
well taken care of, and almost entirely free from the 
various pests and diseases. Spraying- for scale, moth and 
scab has become general throughout the district. 

The fruit growers of this district are much in sympathy 
with the inspection work, and they are beginning to realize 
the benefits derived from it. 

All nursery stock shipped into this district is carefully 
inspected and will do much towards preventing the spread- 
ing of the different diseases and pests. 

The acreage of commercial orchards is steadily increas- 
ing, about five hundred acres being planted yearly, while 
some of the old farm orchards of poor varieties are being 
taken out. 

I believe the fruit trees of this section, at this season 
of the year, to be in prime condition for wintering, and to 
be generally free from all injurious diseases. 

In carrying on the work this year of 1912, I have trav- 
eled 1,650 miles. 

Yours respectfully, 
(Signed) George E. Ames, 

Deputy Inspector, Dist. No. 3. 

District No. 4. 

The work of this district was placed in the hands of 
Henry T. Murray, of Grangeville, Idaho, April 1911, when 
he was appointed Deputy Inspector for that district, and 
Mr. Murray continued in the work until June, 1912, when 
he resigned and went into business for himself. 

District No. 4 comprises the counties of Idaho, Clear- 
water and Lewis, and has only a very small appropriation 
allotted to it considering the size of the district and the 
amount of travel which is necessary in order to reach the 
different fruit districts. However, during the months 
when Mr. Murray was inspector he traveled 2,163 miles, 
and worked 163 14 days. He inspected 160% acres of 
apples, 1014 of pears, and 445 acres of mixed fruit besides 
758 town lots. 



Reports of District Inspectors 197 

Mr. John A. Powell of Grangeville was appointed in 
September to fill the unexpired term in this district and his 
report for the period follows: 

Grangeville, Idaho. 
Mr. John U. McPherson, 

State Horticultural Inspector, 
Boise, Idaho. 

Dear Sir — In compliance with your request, I wish to 
give a general report of the work in this district for the 
unexpired term of my predecessor, and for the time only 
that I have been in office. I find that general conditions 
in the orchards of this district, as far as I am able to 
judge, are above the average for this time of the year. 
Regarding the increase in orchards for the three months 
I have filled the position of deputy inspector, shipments of 
trees in the district are about as follows : 

Apples, 1,400; pears, 400; peaches, 650; prunes and 
plums, 300; cherries, 1,400; berries, 3,000. As regards the 
acreage, I cannot tell increase until same are planted. 

Number of miles traveled in pursuance of oflficial duties 
for October, 210; November, 291 ; December, 324, making 
a total of 825. 

I find that people generally are becoming more inter- 
ested in horticulture, and are giving the same more atten- 
tion and are making marked progress in the eradication of 
diseases. 

Respectfully yours, 
(Signed) John A. Powell, 

Deputy Inspector, Dist. No. ^. 

District No. 5. 

Cambridge, Idaho. 
Mr. J. U. McPherson, 

State Horticultural Inspector, Boise, Idaho. 

Dear Sir — Complying with your request of recent date 
I herewith submit report of work done and miles traveled 
by me as deputy inspector of District No. 5 in 1911 and 
1912. 



198 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

I began my duties as inspector of this district in April, 
1911, following the resignation of Mr. Featherston, my 
predecessor, who had done commendable work in bringing 
the orchard conditions in this district up to a higher 
standard than had heretofore been attained. 

This district is composed of Washington and Adams 
counties. Adams county has a greated altitude than Wash- 
ington, hence a cooler and shorter season. The cool nights 
of Adams county seem to be unfavorable to insect pests 
of the lower country, so that, as yet, spraying has not 
become necessary in this county. 

We have the scale and codling moth both well under 
control, but the blight has given us much concern in nearly 
every part of the district. In some parts of the district it 
has been very troublesome. We have been waging war 
upon it by removing all the blighted branches and burning 
them, and in some instances destroying the whole tree. 
There are some very excellent fruit lands in both counties, 
and orchards are much in evidence. In 1911 there was not 
more than a one-fourth crop harvested, while the year 
1912 has given an abundant harvest. 

We have 7,000 acres of fruit trees in this district, about 
6,000 acres of which are apples, and about 1,000 acres 
of prunes and peaches, with a few acres of pears. In 1911 
we shipped 24 cars of prunes, and about 50 cars of apples, 
also 10,000 crates of peaches, while in 1912, we have 
shipped 50 cars of prunes, and have packed 131,950 boxes 
of apples, only a part of which have been shipped. Also 
1,300 boxes of pears, while the peach pack will scarcely 
reach 1,000 boxes. 

During the two years to November 1, 1912, I have 
worked 2821/2 days, and traveled 5,299 miles. 

In conclusion, I would say that there is preparation 
being made to plant quite a large acreage the coming year 
and it is hoped by all the commercial orchardists that the 
inspection work will be made more and more proficient, 
consequently more funds will be needed to carry on the 
work in a proper manner. 

Yours very respectfully, 
(Signed) D. B. Webber, 

Deputy Inspector, Dist. No. 5. 



Reports of District Inspectors 199 

District No. 6. 

Payette, Idaho. 
Mr. J. U. McPherson, 

State Horticultural Inspector, 
Boise, Idaho. 

Dear Sir — Complying with your request, I submit the 
following report for District No. 6, for 1912. As my 
appointment began March 16, 1912, and this being my first 
season, I cannot give a full report for the biennial season. 
My predecessor worked for some time, for which I have 
no account. 

District No. 6 comprises the north half of Canyon 
county, covering the entire Payette river valley, a portion 
of the Snake river valley, and extends about seven miles 
below the city of Payette, and includes all of Boise 
county. The orchard interests in Boise county are small, 
so the most of the inspector's work lies in the Payette 
valley. 

The principal fruits shipped from this valley are apples 
and prunes, the principal varieties of apples being Jona- 
than, Rome Beauty, Winesap, Arkansas Black, Grimes 
Golden, Gano and Ben Davis. Of the prunes, the Italian. 
Of the peaches. Early and Late Crawford, and Elberta. 
Pears, Barttett, Anjou and Winter Nellis. All kinds of 
berries and small fruits do well, but are not raised to any 
great extent. I think the fruit crop over the entire dis- 
trict is fully as good, or better, than ever before, and 
the orchards are in fine condition. I found considerable 
San Jose scale in the spring, but I believe all have sprayed, 
and I see very little at this time. Orchardists have also 
sprayed for codling moth pretty thoroughly, so I would 
estimate that about 85% of the apples are free from 
worms and scale. 

As near as I can estimate the number of acres in Dis- 
trict No. 6 are as follows: Apples, 21,816; prunes, 1,349; 
peaches, 1,521; pears, 467; mixed fruit, 560, making in 
all about 25,713 acres, about one-tenth of which is in 
bearing. 

Up to November 15, 1912, there has been shipped 520 



200 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

cars of apples, 287 cars of prunes, 50 cars of peaches, 5 
cars of pears, and about 3,600 crates of fruit by express, 
besides numerous small shipments by freight. There 
remains about 300 cars of apples to be shipped which are 
now in storage. 

The number of days employed in inspection so far is 
158, and miles traveled about 3,822. 

In closing I will say that I have the support of prac- 
tically all the growers of this district. Some of the 
small orchardists have not always shown the disposition 
to comply with the law, but I have finally induced them 
to meet its requirements without recourse to the court. 

Hoping this report will meet with your approval, I 
remain, 

Very truly, 
(Signed) A. B. Kern, 

Deputy Inspector, Dist. No. 6. 

District No. 7. 

Caldwell, Idaho. 
Mr. John U. McPherson, 

State Horticultural Inspector, 
Boise, Idaho. 

Dear Sir — Complying with your request I herewith 
submit a brief report of the horticultural inspection 
work done during the years 1911-1912 in my district. 
No. 7, which comprises all of Owyhee county and the 
Boise valley in Canyon county. 

I was appointed inspector the latter part of March, 
1911, consequently this report will not cover the entire 
period of the years 1911-1912, as quite a lot of work was 
done by my predecessor. 

Since the report of 1910, the acreage in this district has 
vastly increased, and while I have not visited all the new 
orchards the following is a fairly accurate amount of the 
various kinds of fruit grown : 

Apples, 14,000 acres; prunes, 650 acres; pears, 125 
acres ; Peaches, 140 acres ; small fruits, such as raspberries, 
dewberries and strawberries, 175 acres. 



Manual of HurticLiltui'e, Idaho. 



PLATE XXX 




ANJOU PEAR 



Reports of District Inspectors 201 

The year 1911 was almost a failure in the fruit line, 
owing to heavy freezes and hail in parts of my district, 
for instance, the Parma-Roswell country had a hail which 
injured the fruit so that little was shipped from that 
point. Caldwell, Nampa and Middleton regions were short 
from freezes. There were shipped from this district dur- 
ing the year but 43 cars of apples and 49 of prunes. 
Apples netted about $1.10 per box, prunes about 50 cents 
per crate. The year 1912 was an exceptionally good fruit 
year, 135 cars of apples and 54 of prunes being shipped, 
besides there are in storage about 20 cars of apples. There 
was nearly 150,000 pounds of dried prunes, of which about 
50,000 are sold at this writing at 6^2 cents per pound. 
I am unable to give net prices for apples as the returns of 
sales are not available. Prunes netted about 50 cents per 
ciate. 

Upon taking charge of this work I found that there 
was in every orchard San Jose scale to some extent, and in 
one or two instances it was quite bad, but I am glad to 
report at this time there is but little to be found in any 
of the orchards. I find most of the trouble in controlling 
pests and diseases is to be found on town lots where the 
owners are not interested, but the farmers and fruit grow- 
ers are anxious and willing to eradicate the pests and dis- 
eases and to co-operate with the Department in so doing. 
The season of 1912 was quite bad in the way of blight 
during the months of June, July and August, and we made 
a hard campaign on it and caused most of the blight to be 
cut out. The crops this season are practically free from 
codling moth. I believe 95% of the apples are free from 
worms owing to the growers spraying so well for the 
codling moth, and I find that where the power sprayer is 
used that results are much more satisfactory, in fact, it 
seems to me to be almost impossible to do satisfactory work 
with a hand power sprayer. 

I would suggest that the horticultural laws should be 
amended so that when it becomes necessary for an in- 
spector to eradicate pests or diseases in an orchard that 
the costs be assessed against the property and not have 
conditions remain as they are now, that is, to sue and get 



202 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

judgment and then try and collect, I am prompted to 
make this suggestion from the fact that during the past 
year I have had to have several orchards sprayed and one 
in particular that cost the state about $90.00, and in try- 
ing to collect the same the county attorney is unable to 
get service and judgment, it being an estate, and he is 
not able to find all the heirs. Now if the law were such 
that this could be assessed to the property there would be 
no trouble to collect, as it would be collected the same as 
taxes. Another case I had was a non-resident. I could 
not find the party, who had left the country, mortgaged the 
property and, it is presumed, never intends to redeem it, 
in fact, the mortgage is now being foreclosed, and the cost 
of destroying this orchard, which I did, has to be paid by 
the state. I have often found it very difficult to find the 
owners of orchards, particularly on town lots where the 
owners are not in the county and no one on or in charge 
of the property. Some one may have the lots for sale, 
but are not agents on whom one could serve legal notice. 
There should, in my judgment, be some way that legal 
notice could be made in these cases that would be legal, 
and allow the inspector to care for the trees and tax same 
against the property. 

I find that there are not sufficient funds for the proper 
enforcing of the horticultural laws, and I have been much 
handicapped in my work for this reason. To do the work 
as it should be done it requires all of a man's time, in fact, 
my district should not have less than three men most of 
the season, and all of their time. If the horticultural laws 
are good they should be enforced and the enforcement of 
them is what should be done, for if this is to be a horticul- 
tural country we must keep down all pests and diseases, 
and the only way to do that is to keep up the fight. The 
people, I am sure, want the laws enforced, and the horti- 
cultural interests protected and fostered. In the past two 
years I have had the support of the orchardists in my 
district and know that the majority, if not all, want the 
laws enforced and they also know that the Department 
has not had sufficient funds the past two years, for they 
petitioned the county commissioners to help the Depart- 



Reports of District Inspectors 203 

ment, but the commissioners did not think they could do 
so, consequently they did not appropriate any funds for this 
purpose. 

In the next few years there will be planted in this dis- 
trict a vast amount of acreage in orchards, and will be 
the principal industry, and it must be taken care of. 

I think there should be a law regulating the marketing 
of fruits, so that all of the fruit shipped shall be of a 
standard quality and pack. I find that some growers and 
shippers try to keep up a high standard, while others 
pack and ship most anything, which lowers the standard 
of our fruits in the markets, thereby working a hardship 
on those who try to raise the quality. One car of poor 
fruit shipped to the market does a vast amount of damage 
to the industry in this state. 

Respectfully submitted, 
(Signed) Edgar Meek, 

Deputy Inspector, Dist. No. 7. 

District No. 8. 

Boise, Idaho. 
Hon. John U. McPherson, 

State Horticultural Inspector, 
Boise, Idaho. 

Dear Sir — I have the honor to report to you that con- 
ditions in District No. 8, during the past two years, have 
undergone a decided change. The first of the season of 1911 
found Ada and Elmore counties with about 15,000 acres of 
orchards. San Jose scale infested nearly every orchard to 
such an extent that the commercial fruit was limited to 
about 70% marketable prunes, pear and apples. The cod- 
ling moth, woolly apbis and pear blight were in nearly 
every section. The wormy apple reduced the shipment of 
apples to about 60%. Young nursery stock shipped in from 
other states contained much infection of root gall, oyster 
shell scale, and peach borer. In one shipment I found 
egg clusters of the gypsy moth. All infected stock was 
promptly burned. 

At the close of the season 1912 we have in Ada and 



204 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

Elmore counties about 20,000 acres of orchard and a good 
crop of practically clean fruit — about 425 cars of prunes 
free from insects and diseases. 

The apple crop in this district is not unusually large, 
but it is of good quality, numbering about 225 cars. 

The growers as a whole stand behind the inspector 
and it is with their co-operation that good results have 
been obtained. We have had some arrests and convictions, 
mostly for neglect to eradicate San Jose scale and to 
spray for codling moth. Every orchard was sprayed for 
San Jose scale and the apple and pear orchards were 
sprayed for codling moth from one to four times. 

Our record of horticultural exhibits is good, Ada county 
having won county sweepstakes prize at the Intermountain 
Fair in 1912. At the Pacific Northwest Land Products 
show at Portland, Oregon, Ada county won from Hood 
River the first prize on box of Yellow Newtons, and from 
Wenatchee the first and second prize on Winesaps. The 
prize money won by the growers and myself at the Idaho 
Intermountain fair was placed to the credit of the Hor- 
ticultural Inspection fund to be used for horticultural 
work in Ada county. 

During the year 1911 I worked as assistant deputy 
and handled the interstate nursery stock inspection and 
the inspection of the trees in the city of Boise only. 
During the year 1912 I was appointed deputy and have 
traveled 7,000 miles and have worked 207 days inspecting 
15,000 acres of orchards. 

One of the greatest needs in this district is a selling 
agency which would be associated with similar agencies 
or associations over the entire northwest, and through 
these agencies the products of the orchards should be 
handled. 

In order to keep the inspection work going and to 
aid the growers in their work of producing good, clean 
fruit, a larger appropriation of money is now a necessity. 
(Signed) H. P. AsHBY, 

Deputy Hort. Inspector. 

Dist. No. 8. 



Reports of District Inspectors 205 

District No. 9, 

Twin Falls, Idaho. 
Mr. J. U. McPherson, 

State Horticultural Inspector, 
Boise, Idaho. 

Dear Sir — Complying with your request, I send a brief 
report of my work as horticultural inspector for District 
No. 9, for the years 1911 and 1912 to date. 

District No. 9 includes Blaine, Lincoln and Twin Falls 
counties. During the last two years thousands of acres 
of commercial orchards have been planted in Lincoln and 
Twin Falls counties, due to the fine showing made by the 
old orchards as well as the young orchards planted at the 
opening of the large irrigated tract in this district, and I 
would estimate we have over 20,000 acres planted to 
orchards. The largest are 1240, 1,000 and 400, with 80 
and 40 by the score. 

There are 19 bonded nurserymen in the district, 16 
of whom are raising nursery stock, and several more who 
will take out bonds soon. 

As the appropriation for this district is insufficient for 
the work, I have taken care of the most important part 
of the work, as far as the funds would allow, and with the 
change in the horticultural law made by the last legis- 
lature, pertaining to the inspection of all nursery stock 
within the state before shipm.ent at the nursery, and the 
holding of all interstate shipments by the railroads for 
inspection before delivery, additional work was given to 
the inspectors, and this has all been taken care of. While 
this part of the work has taken about two months time 
from the regular orchard inspection, it has been the 
means of saving the growers of the district thousands of 
dollars by protecting them from unreliable nurserymen, 
and at the same time give the nurseryman who is growing 
and selling clean trees a chance to do business. 

The number of days employed for the year 1911 was 
23414 ; and for the year 1912 178 days, or an average of 
18 1/2 days per month. 

The acreage inspected during the two years is about as 
follows — 



206 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

Apples 14,413 acres 

Pears 207 " 

Prunes 40 " 

Peaches 271 " 

Mixed 548 " 

Total 15,479 acres 

Town lots 408 

Number of miles traveled by team and railroad: 

1911 6,476 miles 

1912 4,715 " 

Total 11,191 miles 

There are hundreds of small orchards all over the 
district that have not been inspected, as well as a great 
many commercial orchards planted during the last two 
years. 

The general condition of the orchards is good. In 
Hagerman there are about five orchards that have some 
San Jose scale. For the past three years the orchards have 
been well sprayed and those not sprayed were cut down 
and burned. 

The principal pests with which we have to contend are 
codling moth, woolly aphis, green aphis, pear blight, Red 
Spider and San Jose scale. The scale has been found only 
in Hagerman valley, and the growers have it well under 
control. 

In spraying for codling moth the growers in general 
have been very successful, several power sprayers have 
been bought and the old hand pumps thrown on the junk 
pile, where, I trust, they will rest in peace. 

The pear blight showed up here this summer but did 
very little damage outside of a few non-commercial vari- 
eties that are subject to blight. I had to revisit practically 
all of the orchards on the tract, as a great many of the 
growers were not familiar with blight. 

In closing, will say that in carrying on the work in the 



Reports of District Inspectors 207 

last two years I have had the assistance and support of 
nearly all the fruit growers and the community generally. 
As the state appropriation for this district is insufficient 
for the work, on petition of the tax payers and fruit 
growers to the county commissioners of Twin Falls and 
Lincoln counties, appropriations by both these counties 
were made sufficient to permit me to carry on my work 
which was necessary as a great many are growing their 
first orchards and the assistance I have been able to 
give them in pruning and general care has been greatly 
appreciated. 

Yours respectfully, 
(Signed) C. W. Brannan, 

Deputy Inspector, Dist. No. 9. 

District No. 10. 

Oakley, Idaho, 
Mr. J. U. McPherson, 

State Horticultural Inspector, 
Boise, Idaho. 

Dear Sir — You will find herein a detailed report of 
official acts as deputy horticultural inspector for District 
No. 10, for the year 1912. The number of days actually 
employed was 36, and miles traveled, 506. The number 
of orchards visited was 344, containing 524 acres. 

In this district we have pear blight, codling moth, 
woolly and green aphis. One orchard is infested with 
San Jose scale, but it is isolated and the pest is well 
under control. Blight is bad in the canyons along the 
streams where willows and other brush grows. Oakley, 
Marion and Island are free from blight. There was an 
extra good crop of fruit in these three places, and it was 
the cleanest that it has been for years. All trees were 
sprayed properly last spring, and this, with the cool 
nights, gave us particularly clean fruit. The plan of 
serving notices in writing and following them up to see 
that the work is properly done is a good thing. 

Rupert, Burley, Heyburn and that section of the 
country has been a good market for all fruits raised in 



208 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

this district. No fruit was shipped out of the state. 
We have really no commercial orchards which are bearing. 
The majority of the trees are apples, but all kinds do 
well here. 

Our county fair was a success. This is a great help 
to fruit growing as there are many questions asked and 
much good is done. 

More money must be allowed for this work by the 
state. One hundred dollars for this district is insuffi- 
cient. Had it not been that the people of this district 
petitioned the county board for one hundred dollars, and 
the board seeing the necessity of allowing the same, this 
district would have fared on small rations. 

Many trees are ordered for next spring's planting. 
Some are putting out as much as forty acres. All stock 
shipped in the last year was good. 

Peddlers handled most of the fruit of this district, 
and I knov/ of none that was handred but what was 
clean. The same was true of the stores. 
(Signed) John Adams, 

Deputy Inspector, Dist. No. 10. 

District No. 11. 

Malad, Idaho. 
Mr. John U. McPherson, 

State Horticultural Inspector, 
Boise, Idaho. 

Dear Sir — I beg to report on the work I have done as 
deputy horticultural inspector for District No. 11 for the 
year 1912. 

My district is in much better shape than it has ever 
been before. The people who own orchards are seeing 
the benefits of inspection and are doing everything possible 
to help the good work along. They have done much 
more cleaning up and trimming of their orchards than 
they have before, and they are beginning to see the 
benefits to be derived from taking care of their trees. 

In the course of my inspections I have traveled in 
the neighborhood of about 1,500 miles, though there are 



Manual of HorLieul Lure, Idalio. 



platjj: XXXI. 




ROME BEAUTY 



Reports of District Inspectors 209 

only 1,800 acres in this district, it being scattered from 
one end to the other, but from the returns that are 
coming- from the orchards it is sure to increase the 
number of acres greatly in the next few years. This 
district is too large for one man to cover it as it should 
be, and if an appropriation large enough could be 
obtained for this district I would recommend that the 
district be cut in two and the results of the work would 
be a great deal better. The time is so short to do the 
work that it is an impossibility for one man to look after 
it as it should be. 

Very respectfully, 
(Signed) T. J. EVANS, 

Deputy Inspector, Dist. No. 11. 

District No 12. 

Paris, Idaho. 
Mr. J. U. McPherson, 

State Horticultural hispector, 
Boise, Idaho. 

Dear Sir — In compliance with your letter asking for 
a general statement as to the condition of my district 
regarding its increase in orchard, and the general care 
of the same, the number of miles I have traveled, etc., 
etc., I have this to say: 

The condition of my district is good, there has been 
great improvement; the increase in orchard is over as 
much again, about 2,000 acres, and the people are taking- 
better care of their orchards than ever before. The fruit 
shipped in is better than usual. By the present outlook 
I think the number of acres which will be planted next 
spring will be large. The people have done good spray- 
ing, and they see the benefit that it has done. They all 
say the law is a good one and they can see the good it is 
doing. The number of miles I have traveled is 966. 

Very respectfully, 
(Signed) John Norton, 

Deputy Inspector, Dist. No. 12. 



210 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

District No 13. 

Blackfoot, Idaho. 
Mr. John U. McPherson, 

State Horticultural Inspector, Boise, Idaho. 

Dear Sir — I have the honor to submit to you the 
following general report of the horticultural inspection 
work in District No. 13. 

As shown by the monthly reports presented during the 
season from May 1st to the present date, I have inspected 
4,101 acres of orchard, and have traveled 4,3411/4 mile^i 
in the pursuit of my official duties. 

There are about 8,000 acres of orchard in the district, 
and in addition to this there have been 5,000 young 
trees shipped into the district Mdthin the last thirty 
days for fall and spring planting, besides the trees which 
are sold by the local nurseries. 

The local nurseries and the commercial orchards in 
the district are in very good condition and indications 
point to a large increase in orchard acreage next year. 

There has been more fruit marketed from this dis- 
trict during the present year than in five years previous. 
This is not because so much more fruit has been grown, 
but because facilities for marketing the fruit have im- 
proved. Two fruit packing and shipping associations 
have been established in Blackfoot, and although they 
have been in business for only a few months, they have 
both handled a large amount of fruit. There have also 
been more fruit buyers in the field than ever before which 
indicates a growing demand for the quality of the fruit 
produced in this district. 

Since the state appropriation for horticultural inspec- 
tion work was limited in amount, two counties, Bonneville 
and Fremont, made appropriations from their funds of 
$150 and $250 respectively, to further the work in those 
counties. 

One arrest was made in this district for selling infected 
fruit, in violation of the state horticultural law. The 
defendant in the case pleaded guilty and was fined. 
(Signed) H. T. Brangman, 

Deputy Inspector, Dist. No. 13. 



Repo7'ts of District Inspectors 211 

District No 14. 

Salmon, Idaho. 
Mr. John U. McPherson, 

State Horticultural Inspector, 
Boise, Idaho. 

Dear Sir — Complying with your request, I send my 
report as horticultural inspector of District No. 14. 

This district comprises Custer and Lemhi counties. 
The sections where orchards grow are in the Salmon 
river valley, and the Lemhi river valley. The former is 
over 150 miles long, and the latter is 50 miles, and the 
altitude of these valleys varies from 3,500 feet to 7,000 
feet. The bearing orchards are nearly all in the Salmon 
river valley. 

No fruit has ever been shipped from this district as 
there has never been enough to supply the home demand. 

Since the advent of the railroad in April, 1910, a num- 
ber of commercial orchards have been planted and many 
more will be planted next spring. 

The fruits of this district are principally apples, pears, 
cherries and the smaller fruits. Strawberries and rasp- 
berries especially grow to perfection. 

The Wealthy, Jonathan, Alexander and Mcintosh 
reach perfection in quantity, quality, color and size in 
apples. Many other kinds are planted which seem to do 
well, such as Rome Beauty, Northwest Greening, King- 
David, etc. The Delicious, Mcintosh, Rome Beauty, 
Winter Banana and Jonathan are the principal varieties 
being planted for commercial purposes. 

Pears of all kinds do exceedingly well in all parts of 
this district. No prettier sight can be seen than the 
cherry trees when the fruit is ripe. They bear such 
burdens of rich, juicy cherries. The Dukes and Morrellos, 
at present, are the leading kinds as they are perfect in 
every way. 

All the young orchards have made strong, vigorous 
growth during the past two years. Very few pests are 
found. A few borers and aphis are found, which are 
common. Only one orchard has had blight and one 



212 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

small section was infested by codling moth. Such trees 
were sprayed with arsenate of lead. Spraying was fol- 
lowed up so closely that the pest is practically exter- 
minated. Thus far Custer and Lemhi counties are prac- 
tically free from pests. 

In 1911 the crops were immune in all kinds of fruit. 
In 1912 the crops did not quite equal those of 1911. A 
failure of the fruit crops has never been known in this 
district. 

During 1911 and 1912 I have traveled 1,217 miles, 
and inspected and reinspected 952 acres, and inspected 
and reinspected 53 town lots. 

Respectfully submitted, 
(Signed) H. C. Chaffee, 

Deputy Inspector, Dist. No. H. 



APPENDIX 



DESCRIPTIONS OF COLORED PLATES. 



(Descr'iptions of Apples taken from "The Apples 
of New York.") 



McINTOSH RED 

This variety belongs to the Fameuse group. It is adapted to 
a wider range of localities than the Fameuse. The fruit is very 
attractive in appearance, of bright deep red color ahd good size. 
The flesh is very tender, perfumed and delicious. It is desirable 
for local markets and special trade but because of its lack of firm- 
ness it is less suitable for general handling. As grovm at this 
station it begins to ripen in late September or early October. In 
western New York it cannot be expected to keep much later than 
October in ordinary storage without considerable loss but in cold 
storage it may be held until December or January (31). When 
grown in more northern or elevated regions it is often held in good 
condition till midwinter or later. It is susceptible to scab but this 
may readily be controlled with proper treatment. The crop ripens 
unevenly and a considerable oortion of the fruit is liable to drop 
before it is ready to nick. On this account it is best to make two 
or three pickings. In some localities the tree is said to be a 
somewhat slow grower and not satisfactorilv productive, but more 
often it is found to be a rather strong grower, hardy and healthy. 
It comes into bearing rather young and is a reliable cropper, yield- 
ing good crops biennially and sometimes annually. It has not 
been sufficiently tested to demonstrate fully its value for commer- 
cial purposes but it is regarded as one of the most promising 
varieties of its class for general cultivation in New York. 

Historical. — Originated as a chance seedling on the Mcintosh 
homestead, Matilda township, Dundas county, Ontario, where Allan 
Mcintosh began the propagation of this variety in the nursery 
about 1870 (20) It has been widely disseminated. It is now com- 
monly propagated by nurserymen, and its cultivation is on the in- 
crease in New York. 

Tree. — Vigorous, with numerous small, slender laterals. Form 
roundish or spreading. Twigs above medium to short, straight or 
nearly so, rather slender; intemodes long to below medium. Bark 
bright reddish-brown, lightly streaked with scarf-skin; slightly 
pubescent. Lenticels quite numerous, small, oval or elongated, 
raised. Buds deeply set in bark, medium to below, plump, obtuse 
to acute, free, slightly pubescent. 

Fruit — Above medium, sometimes large, pretty uniform in shape 
and size. Form roundish to somewhat oblate, regular or faintly 
ribbed, obscurely angular. Stem short, stout or moderately slender, 



216 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

usually not exserted, often with irregular protuberances. Cavity 
large, acuminate or somewhat acute, wide, medium in depth, some- 
what broadly furrowed, often partly russeted. Calyx small, closed 
or partly open; lobes short to long, narrow, acute. Basin pubes- 
cent, rather small, medium in depth, narrow, abrupt, smooth or 
obscurely furrowed. 

Skin thin, moderately tender, smooth, readily separating from 
the flesh, clear whitish-yellow or greenish washed and deeply blushed 
with bright red and striped with carmine; highly colored specimens 
become dark, almost purplish red with the carmine stripes obscure 
or obliterated, overspjfead with thin lilac bloom. Often the effect 
of the deep red is heightened by lively contrast with one or more 
spots of the clear pale yellow ground color where some twig or 
leaf pressed closely against the growing fruit. Dots whitish or 
yellow, usually very small. 

Calyx tube short, conical or funnel-shape with broad limb. 
Stamens median to basal. 

Core medium size, usually abaxile; cells usually wide open; 
core lines nearly meeting. Carpels roundish to elliptical, narrowing 
toward base and apex, smooth, much concave. Seeds medium brown, 
rather large, acute. 

Flesh white or slightly tinged with yellow, sometimes veined 
with red, firm, fine, crisp, tender, very juicy, characteristically and 
agreeably aromatic, perfumed, sprightly, subacid, becoming mild and 
nearly sweet when very ripe, very good to best for dessert. 

Season October to December or later. 



BARTLETT PEAR 

Origin, England. Large, obtuse pyriform; surface uneven; 
skin thin, bright clear yellow, with blush on the sunny side of 
exposed specimens, sometimes a little russet. Flesh white, buttery, 
juicy, highly perfumed, vinous flavor. Ripens in midsummer. It 
is one of the few choice varieties that succeed over a wide range 
of country and is more largely grown for commercial purposes than 
any other variety. Excellent for canning, preserving and evap- 
orating. 



WHITE PEAR MAIN 

This is an old favorite dessert apple in portions of the middle 
west from Ohio to Kansas. It appears to succeed better in thos« 
regions than it does in New York. It is not recommended for 
planting in that state. 

Historical. — Warder says : "This favorite fruit was brought 
to Indiana by some of the early pomologists, in the days of saddle- 
bag transportation. In a lot of grafts, two varieties, having lost 
their labels, were propagated and fruited without name. Being 
considered Pearmain shaped, they were called respectively Red and 
White Winter Pearmains. The former proved to be the Esopus 
Spitzenberg; the latter has never yet been identified, though be- 
lieved to be an old eastern variety." For a time it was confused 



Descriptions of Colored Plates 217 

with an old New Jersey apple by the name of Michael Henry Pip- 
pin, and Elliott fell into the error of publishing White Pearmam 
and While Winter Pearmain as synonyms of Michael Henry Pippin 
but it was finally conceded that White Pearmain and Michael Hen- 
ry Pippin are distinct varieties (4, 7), In 1858 it was catalogued 
by the American Pomological Society as White Winter Pearmain 
(5). Since 1897 (13) it has been listed as White Pearmain but it 
is very doubtful whether this change will be generally accepted by 
fruit growers and fruit dealers. This variety has been little 
grown in New York and is now seldom or never planted there. 

Tree. — Vigorous, form spreading. Twigs short, stout, blunt 
at tips, generally straight; internodes vary from short to long. Bark 
reddish -brown overlaid with heavy scarf-skin, white pubescent. 
Lenticels conspicuous, numerous, above medium, elongated, raised. 
Buds large, projecting, acute, quite pubescent, free. 

Fruit. — Below medium to nearly large, uniform in size and 
shape. Form roundish ovate or roundish approaching oblong conic, 
varying to roundish conic, somewhat ribbed, pretty symmetrical 
^'tem medium to long. Cavity rather small to above medmm, acute, 
deep, moderately narrow to broad, somewhat furrowed, sometimes 
russeted. Calyx medium to large, usually closed; lobes long, acute. 
Basin small to medium, oblique, shallow and obtuse to medium in 
depth and rather abrupt, medium in width, often distinctly fur- 
jcowed, wrinkled, pubescent. 

Skin tough, smooth, slightly waxen, pale yellow, or at first 
greenish, with a shade of brownish-red. Dots numerous, pale or 
russet, often submerged, usually larger and much elongated about 
the cavity. 

Calyx tube long, conical. 

Core medium to rather large; cells closed or partly open; cor* 
lines somewhat clasping. Carpels rather flat, broad or roundish- 
cordate, emarginate, mucronate, tufted. Seeds light brown, medium 
to large, rather wide, plump, obtuse to acute, tufted. 

Flesh slightly tinged with yellow, firm, fine-grained, crisp, ten- 
der, juicy, mild subacid, sprightly, very pleasantly aromatic, very 
good to best. 

Season December to March. 



WINESAP 

Winesap is one of the oldest and most popular apples in Amer- 
ica. It is known in all the apple growing sections from Virginia 
westward to the Pacific coast. An indication of its popularity 
may be gained from the fact that according to Bailey's Inventory 
(27) there were, in 1892, seventy-three nursery firms offering Wine- 
sap for sale as compared with sixty-four firms offering Baldwin, 
fifty-eight offering Northern Spy and forty-eight offermg Rhode 
Island Greening. It should be borne in mind, however, that the 
number of firms selling a variety is not an altogether true criterion 
of the number of trees sold. 

Like various other old varieties, Winesap has many seedlings 
which partake more or less of the characters of the parent. The 
best known of these are Arkansas, Arkansas Black, Paragon and 
Stayman Winesap. 

The tree is a rather vigorous though not particularly rank 
grower, comes into bearing early and is a remarkably regular 



218 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

cropper. It does best on rather light, rich, deep soils and does not 
succeed on heavy clays or in low, damp locations. In unfavorable 
situations the trees are apt to be short-lived and in New York are 
less hardy than the leading commercial varieties of that region. 
Although Winesap is a well-known market apple, yet with the 
exception of the Piedmont region in Virginia and certain districts 
elsewhere it has not proved generally successful for the commercial 
orchard. In New York it seldom reaches good medivim size. In 
more southern latitudes and under favorable conditions the fruit 
is well colored and of good quality, but excepting on young trees 
or on soils of more than average fertility it averages too small for 
a good m.arket variety. When well grown it is of very good quality 
and attractive in appearan.ce, being quite uniform in shape and size 
and of good dark red color. As grown at this station it is in season 
from January to June with April as the ordinary commercial limft 
(47). When grown farther south its season extends to February 
in ordinary storage and to April in cold storage. It is a good ship- 
per and stands heat well before going into storage, but late in the 
season it often scalds, particularly when not well colored. 

Historical. — Nothing definite is known of the origin of Wine- 
sap. Coxe speaks of it as being "the most favored cider fruit in 
the West Jersey." From this fact many writers have referred to 
West Jersey as the region of its origin or probable origin but such 
statements seem hardly warranted by the evidence. 

Tree. — Medium in size, vigorous. Form roundish-spreading, 
rather straggling and open. Twigs rather stout, rather short to 
above medium; intemodes short. Bark very dark reddish-brown with 
thin gray scarf-skin, somewhat pubescent. Lenticels especially 
clustered just below the nodes, consnicuous, round or elongated, 
variable in size but usually above medium. Buds large to medium, 
broad, usually rather obtuse but sometimes acute, free or nearly so. 
Foliage thin; leaves usually not large, narrow. 

Fruit. — As grown in New York averages even smaller than 
that which is grown farther south. It is pretty uniform in size 
and shape. Form usually conical, sometimes roundish, nearly trun- 
cate at base, nearly regular or obscurely ribbed, symmetrical. Stem 
medium to short, rather slender. Cavity medium to rather small, 
acute to acuminate, narrow to rather broad, deep, symmetrical or 
somewhat furrowed, often more or less lipped, often russeted or 
with outspreading russet rays. Calyx medium to large, closed; 
lobes long, narrow, acuminate. Basin rather small to medium, often 
oblique, shallow to rather deep and abrupt, narrow to moderately 
wide, distinctly furrowed, somewhat wrinkled. 

Skin medium in thickness, tough, smooth, glossy, bright deep 
red indistinctly striped and blotched with very dark purplish-red 
over a distinctly yellow ground color or green if not fully rtiature, 
overspread with faint bloom. Dots rather small, scattering, whitish, 
sometimes in conspicuous contrast with the deep red skin, especially 
toward the cavity. Prevailing effect bright deep red. 

Calyx tube quite variable, conical or funnel-shape. Stamens 
marginal. 

Core medium to small, abaxile with a hollow cylinder in the 
axis, narrov/ing toward the apex; cells pretty uniformly developed, 
symmetrical, open or nearly closed; core lines clasping. Carpels 
broadly roundish, much concave, but slightly emarginate if at all, 
ravicronate. Seeds below medium to above, wide, plump, obtuse. 

Flesh tinged with yellow, veins sometimes red, very firm, rather 
coarse, moderately crisp, very juicy, sprightly subacid, good to 
very good. 



Descriptions of Colored Plates 219 

YELLOW NEWTOWN 

Tree — More vigorous and more erect than that of the Green 
Newtown, the branches growing more freely, the laterals showing 
less tendency to droop and the twigs averaging somewhat longer 
than is the case with the Green Newtown, otherwise, we find that 
the two varieties, as Downing says (10) "grow alike." 

Fruit — The technical description of the fruit of the Green 
Newtown applies well to the Yellow Newtown in all points except- 
ing the color of the fruit and the color and flavor of the flesh. At 
fruit harvest the Yellow Newtown is distinguishable from the 
Green Newtown because both the yellow and the pink tones are 
more highly developed. When they are fully mature and more 
highly colored apples are bright yellow, often with distinct pinkish 
blush, especially about the base. Less highly colored fruit is 
greenish-yellow shaded more or less with duller brownish-pink 
through which narrow streaks of the ground color often appear, 
combining with the streaks of whitish scarf-skin to give a some- 
what striped effect. In general appearance it is decidedly more 
attractive than the Green Newtown, and its flesh is apt to be more 
distinctly tinj^ed with yellow, milder, less sprightly and more 
highly aromatic. 



ITALIAN PRUNE. 

(Prunus domestica). 

The Italian Prune is one of the most widely grown of all piums. 
Its home is Italy and it is grown in all of the plum regions of 
continental Europe; is well known in England; is third or fourth 
in popularity in the Atlantic States of America; is by long odds 
the leading plum in the Pacific Northwest where it is chiefly used 
in prune-making and is grown somewhat for prunes and for ship- 
ping green in California. There are several reasons why this plum 
IS so popular. To begin with, it is finely flavored, whether eaten 
out of hand, stewed or otherwise prepared for the table or cured 
as a prune. The fruit is a little too tart to be ranked as a first- 
class dessert plum and yet it is one of the best of the prunes for 
this purpose, though it must be fully ripe to be fit for dessert; in 
cooking it changes to a dark wine color, very attractive in appear- 
ance, with a most pleasant, sprightly flavor; as a cured prune the 
flesh is fine and meaty, yet elastic, of good color and a perfect 
freestone, making when cooked the same attractive looking, fine- 
flavored, sprightly sauce to be had from the green fruits; the 
prunes from this "nriety, too, are noted for long-keeping. In the 
uncured state the variety keeps and ships well. The trees are usu- 
ally large, hardy, productive, well formed and bear regularly; yet 
they are not ideal and the variety fails chiefly in tree-characters. 
The trees are often capricious to soil and climate, do not always bear 
well, seem to be susceptible to diseases, are preyed upon by insects and 
suffer in particular from dry or hot weather. Were all of these 
troubles to befall the variety at one time it would of necessity give 
way to better sorts, but happily they are to be found for the most 
part in illy adapted conditions or in certain seasons; the Italian 
prune well cared for in locations to which it is suited must long re- 
main one of the leading plums despite the faults of the trees. 



220 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

The Italian Prune originated in Italy at least a centui;y ago 
and has long been common in northern Italy, especially in the 
vicinity of Milan. The London Horticultural Society catalog for 
1831 first mentions it in England and the following year it was 
described in America by Prince as an excellent prune recently intro- 
duced from Europe. The American Pomological Society recom- 
mended it in 1856 as worthy of further testing, and in 1862 it was 
added to the fruit catalog list of this society. The origin of the 
name Fellenberg, a very common synonym, is explained by Lauche, 
who says: "It came to Germany through Mr. Fellenberg and is 
therefore spread under his name and also under the names Schwei- 
zerwetsche and Fellenberger Zwetsche." He further adds that the 
variety "is still not known in Germany as it deserves, considering 
its quality, size and productiveness." 

Tree of medium size, rather vigorous, spreading or upright, 
low topped, hardy, usually productive; branches ash-gray, smooth, 
with small, raised lenticels; branchlets short, with internodes of 
medium length, greenish-red changing to brownish-drab, pubescent, 
with small lenticels; leaf-buds of medium size and length, conical, 
appressed; leaf-scars large. 

Leaves folded upright, obovate or oval, two inches wide, four 
and one-half inches long; upper surface green, pubescent; lower 
surface silvery green, heavily pubescent, apex and base acute, 
margin doubly crenate, with sm.all, dark glands; petiole five-eighths 
inch long, above medium thickness, pubescent, tinged red, with from 
one to three globose, greenish-brown glands usually on the stalk. 

Season of bloom intermediate and short; flowers appearing af- 
ter the leaves, one and three-sixteenths inches across, in the buds 
tinged yellow, changing to white when expanded; borne_ on lateral 
spurs, rarely on lateral buds, singly or in pairs; pedicles three- 
quarters inch long, thick, pubescent, greenish; calyx tube green, 
campanulate, pubescent at the base; calyx lobes long and narrow, 
acute or narrowly obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces and along the 
glandular-serrate margin, reflexed, inclined to curl at the tips; 
netals oval or obovate, dentate, tapering to broad claws of medium 
length; anthers yellowish; filaments seven-sixteenths inch long; 
pistil pubescent at the base, equal to the stamens in length. 

Fruit late, season short; one and seven-eighths inches by one 
and one-half inches in size, long-oval, enlarged on the suture side, 
slightly compressed, halves unequal; cavity very shallow and narrow, 
abrupt; suture shallow to medium; apex bluntly pointed; color 
purplish-black, overspread with very thick bloom; dots numerous, 
small, light brown, somewhat conspicuous; stem inserted at one side 
of the base, one inch in length, pubescent, adhering well to the 
fruit; skin thin, somewhat tough, separating readily; flesh green- 
ish-yellow changing to yellow, juicy, firm, subacid, slightly aro- 
matic; very good to best; stone free, smaller than the cavity, one 
inch by five-eighths inch in size, irregular oval, flattened, roughened 
and pitted, necked at the base, abruptly tipped at the apex; ventral 
suture prominent, heavily ridged, sometimes strongly winged; dorsal 
suture widely and deeply grooved. 



DELICIOUS 

Large, distinctive in shape; color, brilliant dark red blending 
into golden yellow at the blossom end. The caljrx is one of its 



Descriptions of Colored Plates 221 

ever-characteristic features, having five protuberances which are 
more or less pointed or Hat rounded, depending on section where 
grown. Quality very good; flavor sweet, slightly touched with acid, 
very aromatic. Flesh is fine grained, very crisp, exceedingly juicy. 
One of the strongest, hardiest and vost vigorous; aphis-resistant and 
a late bloomer; blossoms strongly frost-resistant. Originated at 
Peru, Madison county, Iowa, by Jesse Hiatt. 



COMICE PEAR 

Origin, France. Fruit large, varying from roundish to obtuse 
pyraform. Greenish yellow, clear yellow at maturity, some russet 
shaded with crimson on sunny side; stalk short and stout, inclined 
and set in a shallow cavity; calyx small, open, in a deep uneven 
basin. Flesh white, fine grained, sweet, rich, slightly aromatic 
flavor. October and November. 



WEALTHY 

This variety is particularly valuable for cold climates because 
the tree is very hardy and the fruit sells well, being bright 
red and good in quality for either dessert or culinary uses. It is in 
season from October to early winter or mid-winter. In ordinary 
storage its commercial limit is October, but in cold storage it may 
be kept till January or later. It does not stand heat very well 
before going into storage and goes down rather quickly (41). Young- 
trees or trees which are making a thrifty growth produce fruit of 
good size, but mature, slow-growing trees are apt to yield a con- 
siderable percentage of undersized fruit, especially when they are 
overloaded, as is often the case. The crop ripens unevenly, and 
more than one picking should be made in order to secure the 
fruit in prime condition. If it is left upon the tree until fully 
colored there is apt to be considerable loss by dropping. The tree is 
a good thrifty grower when young, but with maturity it becomes a 
moderate or rather slow grower, forming a medium sized or rather 
dwarfish tree. Wealthy is being planted for commercial purposes 
in many parts of the state, but in most localities the trees are as 
yet comparatively young; in some sections of the state it is being 
planted more than any other apple of its season. Trees that have 
become old enough to develop the tendency to produce rather 
small fruit are in some places being grafted over to other sorts. 
In other places, fruit growers, by adopting such treatment as thin- 
ning the fruit and keeping the soil fertile, continue to produce 
apples of good marketable size when the trees are mature. 

Historical. — Originated by Peter M. Gideon, Excelsior, Minn., 
from seed of the Cherry Crab, which he obtained about 1860 from 
Albert Emerson, Bangor, Me., (11, 28). Ragan (42) states that the 
fruit was first described in the Western Farmer in 1869. It has 
been extensively disseminated, particularly in those apple-growing 
districts where a tree of superior hardiness is especially desired. 
It is generally listed by nurseiymen and its cultivation is gradually 
increasing. 



222 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

Tree. — Somewhat dwarfish to medium size, moderately vigor- 
ous with short, moderately stout, curved branches. Form upright 
spreading or roundish, open and somewhat drooping. Twigs long, 
curved, slender; internodes long. Bark dark brown, lightly streaked 
with scarf-skin; pubescent. Lenticels quite numerous, medium to 
small, oblong, not raised, rather conspicuous. Buds medium size, 
broad, plump, obtuse, free, pubescent. 

Fruit. — Above medium to large when well grown but often 
small on old trees; pretty uniform in shape and quality but more 
or less uneven in size. Form roundish conic, slightly flattened at 
base, regular, symmetrical. Stem usually short to medium, but 
rather long on small fruit and rather slender. Cavity decidedly 
acuminate, rather deep, moderately narrow to rather broad, rus- 
seted. Calyx medium size, closed or partly open; lobes broad, 
obtuse to acute. Basin medium in depth to rather shallow, rather 
narrow, abrupt, smooth, symmetrical. 

Skin thin, tough, pale yellow or greenish, blushed and marked 
with narrow stripes and splashes of red, deepening in highly col- 
ored specimens to brilliant red, very attractive. Dots numerous, 
small, inconspicuous, pale or russet. Prevailing effect bright red. 

Calyx tube conical approaching funnel-form. Stamens median. 

Core medium to very small, abaxile or sometimes slightly abax- 
ile; cells symmetrical, slightly open; core lines clasping. Carpels 
medium to rather small, roundish, narrowing toward base and 
apex, smooth, flat. Seeds moderately dark brown, above medium, 
rather acute. 

Flesh whitish, sometimes stained with red, moderately fine, 
crisp, tender, very juicy, agreeable subacid, sprightly, somewhat 
aromatic, good to very good. 

Season October to January. 



GRIMES 

Fruit beautiful rich golden-yellow, attractive in form and ex- 
cellent either for dessert or culinary use. It can hardly be called 
a standard market variety but in some markets it sells well. It is 
not a good keeper and is apt to scald in storage. It is in season 
about with Hubbardston. The tree is a biennial or sometimes an 
annual bearer and a good cropper. Favorable reports on it have 
been received from certain localities in New York but generally as 
grown in that state does not develop in size, color or quality as well 
as it does in more southern latitudes, and there is a high per- 
centage of loss from drops and culls. Some few New York fruit 
growers consider it a fairly profitable variety but generally it is 
regarded less favorably and it has failed to become a standard 
apple either in the home orchards or in the commercial orchards of 
the state. The indications are that it will never be grown in New 
York to any considerable extent. 

Historical. — Originated in West Virginia. Fruit from the 
original tree was sold to the New Orleans traders as long ago as 
1804 (6). It has become generally disseminated throughout the 
Ben Davis regions of the south, west and southwest, where it is 
often planted for home use and is highly esteemed as a dessert 
apple, but it is not grown extensively in many localities in the 
commercial orchards. It has long been known in scattering locali- 



Descriptions of Colored Plates 223 

ties in New York and old trees of it are found in some orchards, 
but it has not been generally planted. 

Tree — Moderately vigorous; branches short, stout, curved, 
crooked. Form upright spreading or roundish, inclined to droop, 
rather dense. Twigs short to long, straight, moderately stout; inter- 
nodes short. Bark dull brownish, rather lightly mottled with 
scarf-skin; pubescent in spots and at tips. Lenticels scattering, 
small to large, roundish or oblong, not raised, rather inconspicuous. 
Buds medium, bi-oad, obtuse to acute, free, varying from slightly 
pubescent to quite pubescent. 

Fruit — Medium to large. Form roundish oblong, often flattened 
at the ends, sometimes inclined to conic, pretty regular, sometimes 
obscurely ribbed, sometimes oblique, symmetrical, uniform; sides 
often unequal. Stem short to medium. Cavity broad, deep, acute 
to acuminate, often russeted. Calyx rather large, closed, lobes 
long, reflexed, often separated at base. Basin abrupt, deep or mod- 
erately deep, rather wide, somewhat furrowed. 

Skin tough, somewhat rough, clear deep yellow with scattering- 
pale yellow or russet dots. 

Calyx tube yellow, very broad at the top, conical, deep. Sta- 
mens basal. 

Core medium to rather small, somewhat abaxile; cells usually 
pretty symmetrical, closed, or somewhat open ; core lines meeting 
or somewhat clasping. Carpels roundish, emarginate, concave. 
Seeds numerous, medium or below, somewhat tufted, plump, acute 
to obtuse. 

Flesh yellow, very firm, tender, crisp, moderately coarse, mod- 
erately juicy, subacid, rich, aromatic, sprightly, very good to best. 

Season November to January or February. Commercial limit, 
December or January. 



JONATHAN 

This is a fruit of the Esopus Spitzenberg class. It is very 
beautiful, of a brilliant red color, highly flavored and of excellent 
quality for either dessert or culinary use. It excels its parent in 
hardiness, productiveness, health and vigor and is adapted to a 
wider range of territory, but the fruit is not so large nor does it 
keep as well as that of Esopus Spitzenberg. In New York state it 
does fairly well in favorable localities if grown on rich soil and 
given careful attention but even under such circumstances it does 
not usually attain as good size as it does in certain portions of 
the valleys of the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri and in the irri- 
'>'ated districts in the mountain regions farther west. As grown 
in New York it is ordinarily rather small with a comparatively 
high percentage of uneven and irregular fruit, and it is not at all 
adapted to the general trade. At its best it is one of the most de- 
sirable varieties for the fancy trade at the holiday season. Its 
season is about the same as that of Tompkins King. It may be 
kept through the winter but when held in ordinary storage later 
than January dark spots are liable to develop in the skin and 
seriously injure the appearance of the fruit. Handled in this way 
its commercial limit is December or early January. In cold storage 
its commercial limit varies from January to March or sometimes 
later. (30), 

As grown in New York the... tree is but a moderate grower and 



224 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

for this reason it is well to top-work it upon some stock that is 
more vigorous, such as Northern Spy, Baldwin or Rhode Island 
Greening. It does not grow much above medium size and may be 
planted more closely than Baldwin. Particular attention should be 
given to keeping the soil fertile, well supplied with humus and well 
tilled, and the trees should be thoroughly protected from injurious 
insects and fungus diseases. Under favorable conditions the tree is 
a reliable cropper, bearing good crops biennially or in some cases 
almost annually. It comes into bearing rather young. Usually the 
fruit hangs pretty well to the tree. It is not recommended for 
general commercial planting in New York but in some places under 
good management it has proved a profitable variety. 

Historical. — The first published account which we find of the 
Jonathan is that given by Judge J. Buel, of Albany, in 1826, in an 
article on "Observations on the Utility of a Descriptive Catalogue 
of Garden and Orchard Fruit," addressed to the members of the 
New York Horticultural Society, in which he presents "A De- 
scriptive Catalogue of some of the most valuable apples propagated 
in the nurseries of this state." In this catalogue the Jonathan is 
listed as the Esopus Spitzenberg (New) with the synonym Ulster 
Seedling. (1). In 1829 Judge Buel sent specimens of the fruit 
to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society with the statement that 
it was "An Esopus seedling and sometimes called the New Spitzen- 
berg." It originated on the farm of Mr. Philip Rix:k, of Woodstock, 
Ulster county, New York (7). According to Downing the original 
tree was still alive in 1845. It was at first disseminated under 
various names, all of which were soon superseded by the name 
Jonathan which was assigned to it by Judge Buel in honor of 
Jonathan Hasbrouck by whom his attention was first called to the 
variety. It has been widely disseminated throughout the apple- 
growing regions of New York but in none of them is it grown ex- 
tensively. It is extensively planted in regions farther west and 
south, where, as above stated, it is recognized in many localities as 
one of the leading commercial varieties. 

Tree. — Medium in size, a moderately vigorous or rather slow 
grower. Form roundish or spreading, somewhat drooping, rather 
dense. Twigs medium in length, nearly straight, rather slender; 
internodes short. Bark dark brownish-red mingled with dark green, 
and heavily coated with scarf-skin; pubescent. Lenticels usually 
very scattering, sometimes moderately numerous, small to medium 
or sometimes large, roundish to oblong, not raised. Buds medium, 
plump, rather narrow, acute to obtuse, free, pubescent. Leaves 
medium or below, rather narrow. 

Fruit. — Medium to rather small, rarely large. Form roundish 
conic to roundish ovate, often somewhat truncate, regular; pretty 
uniform in shape and size. Stem medium to long, rather slender. 
Cavity acute to acuminate, deep to very deep, wide, symmetrical, 
sometimes slightly furrowed. Calyx small, closed. Basin deep to 
very deep, very abrupt, wide to moderately narrow. 

Skin thin, tough, smooth, pale bright yellow overlaid with lively 
red, striped with carmine. When well colored the fruit is almost 
completely covered with red which deepens to purplish on the 
sunny side and often shows a beautiful contrasting bit of clear pale 
yellow about the cavity where a twig or leaf lay in contact with 
the skin. Less highly colored fruit has more of a striped appear- 
ance particularly toward the basin. Dots minute, usually inconspic- 
uous. Prevailing effect attractive lively deep red. 

Calyx tube rather small, funnel-shape or sometimes conical. 
Stamens basal to median. 

Cor» medium or below, axile or nearly so; cells symmetrical but 



JMaiiULiI <if Horticiil Lui'L', Idalio. 



PL.ATK XXXll. 




GANG 



Descriptions of Colored Plates 22,^ 

often not uniformly developed, usually closed, sometimes open; 
core lines clasp the funnel cyllinder. Carpels rather concave, 
roundish to roundish cordate, emarginate, smooth. Seeds rather 
large, long, acute to acuminate, dark, numerous. 

Flesh whitish or somewhat yellow, sometimes with tinge of red, 
firm, moderately fine, crisp, tender, juicy, very aromatic, sprightly 
subacid, very good to best. 

Season November to January or later. 



ELBERTA PEACH 

Large to very large, yellow, with beautiful blush; firm, a little 
coarse, But tender and good. While quality is not the highest, it 
has made more money for the orchardist than any other peach. 
Tree a rank, vigorous grower, healthy and fairly hardy, one of the 
most dependable. 

WAGENER 



Wagener, at its best, is an apple of superior excellence. Tha 
color is a beautiful bright red with some contrasting pale yellow; 
it has fine texture, high flavor and excellent quality. It is very 
desirable for culinary uses but is especially esteemed for dessert. 
It is in season about with Tompkins King or from October to 
February, yet often some portion of the fruit may be kept in 
ordinary storage till late in spring. Its commercial limit is Decem- 
ber, or, in cold storage, about February 1. It does not stand heat 
well before going into storage and is quite apt to scald toward 
the close of the season, particularly if not well colored. After 
scalding it goes down quickly (29, 30). Often there is some loss 
from drops, especially if the crop is not picked as soon as it is 
well colored, and many times there is a rather high percentage 
of loss of fruit that is unmarketable because it is undersized or 
misshapen. In the nursery Wagener is a pretty good grower, 
upright and well formed; in the orchard it is quite vigorous at first, 
but as it advances in maturity it usually becomes a rather weak 
grower, with branches full of fruit spurs. It comes into bearing 
at an early age and so long as it remains healthy it is a reliable 
cropper, yielding moderate to rather heavy crops biennially or 
nearly annually. In many cases it overbears so that the fruit does 
not all develop properly in size and color. Under such circum- 
stances it is a great advantage to thin the fruit. To get best 
results the thinning should be done as early as June. Under 
favorable conditions the crop is pretty uniform in size, color and 
quality. 

The tree is often short-lived, but some report that it is longer 
lived when top-worked upon hardier and more vigorous stock, such 
as Northern Spy, Baldwin and Tolman Sweet. On account of its 
dwarfish form and habit of coming into bearing at an early age 
it is recommended by some fruit growers as a filler to plant 
between the rows of longer-lived apple trees. Some fruit growers 
consider it a profitable variety, but many do not. Although it was 



226 State Board of Hortictdtural Inspection 

introduced about a half century ago and it is now sufficiently well 
known so that it may perhaps be regarded as a standard market 
variety, yet it has not established itself to any considerable extent 
m the commercial orchards of this state and is not being exten- 
sively planted. 

Historical. — The first published reference to the Wagener 
which we find is that given in the Report of the New York State 
Agricultural Society for 1847, in which it is stated that it was 
awarded second premium as a seedling of merit (1). In 1848 it 
was again presented for competition and was placed by the com- 
mittee in the list of first class apples, awarded an additional prem- 
ium and also a diploma. An illustrated description of it was pub- 
lished in the report of this society for that year with the remark 
"This very fine apple the committee considers a desirable addition 
to the list of first-rate fruits. Its appearance is prepossessing, as 
is also its size and form." (2). An account of the history of 
Wagener was also given in which it was stated that in the spring 
of 1791 Mr, George Wheeler brought with him from Dover, Duchess 
county, N. Y., to Penn Yan, Yates county, a quantity of apple seeds 
which he sowed that spring in the nursery upon his farm which he 
was then reclaiming from the wilderness. In 1796 Abraham Wag- 
ener, from whom the name of the apple is derived, bought this 
seedling nursery and planted trees from it upon his place in what 
is now the village of Penn Yan. In 1848 it was remarked that 
the old tree was producing an annual and abundant yield of beau- 
tiful and delicious fruit. It continued to bear full crops until about 
the year 1865 (15). After it was brought to the notice of the 
State Agricultural society, the Wagener soon began to be propa- 
gated quite extensively and it has since become widely dissemin- 
ated throughout the country. In 1892 Wagener was being offered 
quite generally by nurserymen throughout the country except in 
the north Mississippi valley, the Rocky Mountain region and the 
plains from Nebraska to Texas (22). It is generally known 
throughout New York, but is not planted extensively in any section 
of the state. 

Tree. — Dwarfish to medium size, at first moderately vigorous 
but soon becoming a slow grower; branches short, stout and filled 
with spurs. Form roundish to spreading, open. Twigs short to 
medium, often somewhat curved, moderately stout, usually quite 
blunt; internodes medium to short. Bark clear dark reddish brown 
mingled with olive green, lightly streaked with scarf-skin; pubescent 
near tips. Lenticels scattering, medium or below, elongated or 
sometimes roundish, not raised. Buds medium to rather large, 
sometimes projecting, plump, acute, free, pubescent. 

Fruit. — Medium to rather large. Form oblate to roundish 
oblate, broadly ribbed or irregularly elliptical; sides often unequal. 
Stem short to moderately long, maderately thick to rather slender. 
Cavity variable, acute, moderately deep to deep, broad or sometimes 
compressed and rather narrow, often angular or furrowed, sometimes 
thinly russeted. Calyx small to medium, closed or partly open; 
lobes small, usually short, acute to acuminate, connivent, reflexed. 
Basin medium in width and depth, abrupt, somewhat furrowed. 

Skin thin, tough, smooth, glossy, bright pinkish-red striped 
with bright carmine and mottled and streaked with thin whitish 
scarf-skin over a clear, pale yellow background. Dots numerous, 
whitish or russet, sometimes mingled with light russet flecks. Pre- 
vailing color, bright light red. 

Calyx tube long, rather narrow, funnel form, often elongated 
and extending to the core. Stamens median to marginal. 

Core below medium to moderately large, somewhat abaxile with 



Descriptions of Colored Plates 22n 

hollow cylinder in the axis, carrying to nearly axile; cells symmet- 
rical, closed or open; core lines clasping the funnel cylinder. Car- 
pels broadly roundish or approaching elliptical, but little emarginate 
if at all, smooth or nearly so, mucronate. Seeds moderately nu- 
merous, rather small to above medium, short to moderately long, 
moderately wide, obtuse, rather light brown; often some are abortive. 

Flesh whitish slightly tinged with yellow, moderately firm, 
rather fine-grained, crisp, tender, juicy to very juicy, subacid, 
aromatic, sprightly, very good to best. 

Season October to November, to February or later. 



ANJOU PEAR 

Origin, France. Large, obtuse pyriform; stem short, thick, 
fleshy. Skin greenish-yellow, sometimes shaded with dull crimson 
and sprinkled thickly with brown dots; calyx very small, open, stiff, 
in a small basin surrounded with russet. Flesh whitish, melting, 
juicy, brisk, vinous; late autumn to early winter. Tree vigorous, 
open round head; fruit evenly distributed and of uniform size. An 
excellent market variety. 



ROME 



When virell grown this fruit is of good size, uniform, fair, 
smooth and handsomely colored. It is thick skinned, stands handling 
remarkably well and is a good keeper. It is held in cold storage 
till May or later. It goes down gradually in storage and if prop- 
erly colored is not subject to scald (39). It has an established 
reputation in market and sells at good prices. As compared with 
Baldwin it is not quite so good in quality either for dessert or for 
culinary uses but the tree comes into bearing at a much earlier 
age and under right conditions is more nearly an annual cropper. 
It is not as well adapted as Baldwin for general cultivation in 
New York state, the fruit often being less reliable and less satis- 
factory in size and color, the foliage less healthy and the tree less 
vigorous and not so large. Although it is an old variety it has 
not been sufficiently tested in New York to determine the range 
of its proper .cultivation. Generally speaking, it succeeds better 
farther south, as, for example, in some districts in New Jersey and 
along the Ohio river. It appears to be better adapted to bottom 
lands and to fertile sandy or gravelly loams than to heavy clay 
soils. Evidently it develops proper size, color and quality more 
often when grown in southeastern New York than it does in cooler 
and more elevated regions in the interior of the state, yet in some 
localities in western New York on warm, fertile, well-drained soils 
it attains good size and good color and gives promise of being sat- 
isfactory in commercial orchards. The tree is apt to overbear and 
in unfavorable locations as it advances in maturity there is often 
a considerable loss in undersized oi noorly colored fruit. Although 
it is a good grower there appears to be some advantage in to'p- 
grafting it upon some more vigorous stock. When top-worked on 
bearing trees it usually produces some fruit within two or three 



228 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

years from the time of grafting or Ijudding. The fruit is supported 
by a long stem and usually hangs to the tree remarkably well eren 
in high winds. It is somewhat subject to the attacks of the acab 
and requires thorough and careful preventive treatment in order 
to protect it from injurious insects and diseases. 

HistoricaL — Originated by H. N. Gillett in Lawrence county, 
Ohio, Brought to the notice of the Ohio Convention of Fruit Grow- 
ers in 1848 as a new variety (1, 14). It is holding its own as a 
profitable commercial variety in that section of the country (31) 
and also in certain other southern apple-growing districts (30, 34, 
38), but Stinson reports that in Missouri it is an uncertain bearer, 
and not a safe variety to recommend for general planting although 
some Missouri fruit growers recommend it for planting in some 
locations (34). Although occasionally old trees of this variety are 
found in New York, Rome is as yet but little known among New 
York fruit growers. Within recent years it has been planted or 
grafted in commercial orchards to a limited extent and for th« 
most part in an experimental way. 

2Vee. — Tree not a very strong grower in the nursery but in 
the orchard it is rather vigorous and attains good medium size. 
Form at first upright but later it is roundish to somewhat spread- 
ing and drooping, with rather slender lateral branches. Twig-a 
moderately stout, sometimes slender, moderately long; internodes 
short. Bark mottled in brownish-red and green, rather bright. 
Lenticels medium to large, scattering, conspicuous, round to oblong, 
raised. Buds deeply set in bark, very short, broad, obtuse, ap- 
pressed. Leaves rather long; foliage not particularly robust. 

Fruit. — Fruit medium to very large, usually averaging abova 
medium, pretty uniform in size and shape. Form roundish to 
roundish-conic or slightly oblong, regular or faintly ribbed, usually 
symmetrical but sometimes with sides unequal. Stem cnaracter- 
istically long, slender, and often oblique. Cavity medium to rather 
large, characteristically obtuse and smooth, moderately shallow to 
rather deep, wide, sometimes compressed or lipped, often gently 
furrowed, green or red, never russeted. Calyx rather small to 
medium, closed or somewhat open; lobes usually converging above 
but slightly separated toward the base. Basin small to medium, 
shallow to a moderately deep, narrow to medium in width, some- 
times abrupt, usually a little furrowed or wrinkled. 

Skin thick, tough, smooth, yellow or greenish, more or less 
mottled with bright red which in highly colored specimens deepens 
to almost solid red on the exposed cheek, striped with bright car- 
mine. Dots rather numerous, whitish or brown, small. Prevailing 
effect, red, or red mingled with yellow . 

Calyx tube cone-shape or approaching short truncate funnel 
form, often with fleshy pistil point projecting into the base. Sta- 
mens marginal to median. 

Core medium to large, abaxile; cells sometimes unsymmetrieal, 
open; core lines meeting or slightly clasping. Carpels roundish to 
ovate, narrowing both toward base and apex, sometimes obtusely 
emarginate, mucronate. Seeds numerous, medium in size, plump, 
acute to somewhat obtuse, slightly tufted, light and dark brown. 

Flesh nearly white, with slight tinge of yellow or green, firm, 
moderately fine-grained to a Tittle coarse, rather crisp, juicy, 
slightly aromatic, agreeable mild subacid, commonly good but not 
high in quality. 

Season November to April or May. 



D9>8cnptions of Colored Plates 229 

GANO 

This is a variety of the Ben Davis type. In the nursery th« 
tree resembles Ben Davis very closely. As grown in western New 
York the fruit is more highly colored, but on the average is some- 
what smaller than that of Ben Davis. It is less striped in appear- 
ance and more of a solid, deep red color, often with a contrast- 
ing spot of clear yellow where it has been closely covered by a 
leaf or twig. In this respect and in its deep, abrupt basin it sug- 
gests Jonatnan, as at times it also does by its brilliant, deep red 
or purnlish color. It is very attractive in appearance, stands han- 
dling well and is a good keeper. In quality it is perhaps a little 
superior to Ben Davis. The tree comes into bearing young, and is 
an excellent cropper, bearing regularly and abundantly. It has not 
been tested very many years in New York, but it appears to be 
adapted to about the same region as Ben Davis. 

Historical. Origin obscure. Brought to notice in Missouri 
about twenty-five years ago and disseminated under the name Gano 
(1, 5, 6), It is supposed py some that the original stock came from 
Kentucky. (5). Some believe that Gano is the same as Black Ben 
Davis. It certainly resembles Black Ben Davis very closely but the 
preponderance of evidence at present seems to favor the opinion 
that it is of distinct origin (16). 

Tree — -Tree moderately vigorous; branches long, moderately 
stout and inclined to droop; laterals willowy, short, slender. Form 
like that of Ben Davis, upright, spreading, becoming somewhat 
drooping, rather dense. Twigs short to rather long, somewhat 
curved, markedly geniculate, moderately stout; internodes short to 
rather long. Bark bright brownish-red mingled with olive-green, 
lightly overcast with mottled and streaked gray scarf-skin; pubes- 
cent, Lenticels not conspicuous, scattering, medium, round to 
ovate or often elongated, slightly raised. Buds small to medium 
with prominent shoulder, plump, obtuse, appressed, decidedly pubes- 
cent, deeply set in bark. 

Fruit — Fruit medium to sometimes large. Form roundish 
eonie, usually regular, symmetrical: uniform in size and shape. 
Stem medium to long and slender. Cavity acute, deep, rather broad, 
S5Tnmetrical, sometimes slightly furrowed or compressed, usually with 
radiating green russet or red russet. Calyx medium or above, 
elosed or partly open; pubescent; lobes rather broad, acute to 
acuminate. Basin abrupt, moderately narrow to rather wide, often 
deep. 

Skin smooth, waxy, clear light yellow, mottled and blushed with 
bright light pinkish-red often deepening to a purplish-red, more or 
less obscurely striped. Dots numerous, small, inconspicuous. Pre- 
vailing color fine red. 

Calyx tube short, cone-shape with fleshy pistil point projecting 
into its base, or sometimes elongated funnel-form. Stamens median 
to marginal. Core below medium to large, somewhat abaxile with 
a comparatively rather wide hollow cylinder at the axis; cells 
elosed, or partly open, usually symmetrical but often not uniformly 
developed J core lines meeting when the caljrx tube is cone-shape 
but elaspmg the funnel-cylinder when it is funnel-form. Carpels 
broadly roundish or elongated, slightly tufted, emarginate. Seeds 
numerous, broad, obtuse, large, dark, sometimes tufted. 

Flesh whitish slightly tinged with yellow, firm, moderately 
tender, rather coarse, moderately crisp, juicy, mild subacid, good 
or nearly good in cfuality. 

Season about the same as that of Ben Davis, extending from 
December to May in western New York. Commercial limit in com- 
mon storage March, in cold storage April. 



230 State Board of Horticultural Inspection 

NORTHWESTERN GREENING 

Attractive in color for a green or yellowish apple but apt to 
be variable in size and not uniform in shape. It is hardier than 
Rhode Island Greening and on that account some consider it worthy 
of cultivation in districts where the climate is too severe for the 
Rhode Island Greening. The fruit has a serious fault in that the 
flesh within the core lines is apt to be corky and discolored. It 
cooks evenly and quickly and when cooked has a fine yellow color 
but is not of high flavor or quality, being much inferior in this 
respect to Rhode Island Greening. As a desert apple it ranks 
fair to good in quality. At this station it has not been a satisfac- 
tory keeper in common storage, the rate of loss being high in No- 
vember and sometimes in December, moderate through the winter 
and gradually rising to high or very high in the closing weeks of 
its season. A large part of the fruit does not reach prime con- 
dition before January, a considerable portion of it remains sound 
until the close of the winter and some of it may keep till June. 
The tree is hardy, vigorous, a fine erect grower in the nursery, 
and a good, strong grower in the orchard. It does not come into 
bearing very early but eventually becomes productive and is a re- 
liable biennial cropper. 

Historical. — Originated in Waupaca county, Wisconsin. Intro- 
duced in 1872 by E. W. Daniels. It has been pretty widely dis- 
seminated throughout the northern portions of the apple belt where 
very hardy trees are desired. It has as yet been planted very little 
in New York. 

Tree. — Vigorous, with moderately long, stout, crooked branches. 
Form upright, becoming quite roundish or spreading, inclined to 
droop, dense. Twigs moderately long, curved, stout, with large 
terminal buds; intemodes medium to long. Bark clear reddish- 
brown, lightly mottled with scarf-skin, lightly pubescent. Lenticels 
quite numerous, medium to large, oval or elongated, raised, very 
conspicuous, pale and contrasting clearly with the bright smooth 
bark. Buds large, broad, plump, obtuse, free, projecting, slightly 
pubescent. 

Fruit. — Medium to large or very large, variable in size and 
form. Form commonly roundish but varying to oblong or to 
oblate and often inclined to conic, more or less irregular, sometimes 
elliptical, sometimes ribbed. Stem medium to short. Cavity rather 
small to large, acute to acuminate, moderately narrow to wide, deep, 
often compressed or lipped, often with outspreading russet. Caljrx 
variable, small to large, closed or open. Basin small to large, 
narrow to wide, usually abrupt, moderately deep, furrowed and 
wrinkled. 

Skin smooth, somewhat waxy, clear pale yellow or greenish, 
sometimes faintly blushed. Dots varying from small to large and 
irregular, usually whitish and submerged, sometimes gray with 
russet point. Prevailing effect clear_ yellow or greenish. 

Calyx tube moderately wide, conical or approaching um-shape. 
Stamens median. 

Core medium or above, usually abaxile or nearly so, cells usu- 
ally symmetrical, closed or sometimes open; core lines meeting or 
somewhat clasping. Carpels broadly roundish, truncate at base, 
narrowing toward the apex, mucronate, but slightly marginate, if 
at all. Seeds very small, variable in shape; often some are 
abortive. 

Flesh tinged with^ yellow, medium in texture, crispness and 
firmness, juicy, with slight aroma, mild subacid, fair to good. 



Idaho Spraying Calendar 



232 



State Board of Horticultural Inspection 



Insect or Disease. 


Plant Attacked 


What to Spray With 


1 Codling Moth 


Apple, pear 


Arsenate of lead or 






white arsenate 




Nearly all deciduous 
trees 


Sulphur-lime wash 












3 Oyster Shell Bark 


Apples, mainly 


Sulphur-lime wash 








4 Peach Worm or Twig 
Borer 


Peach, sometimes plum, 
apple and cherry. 

Apple, plum, prune. 


Sulphur-lime wash 




Sulphur-lime wash , 




fi Black Anhls 


Cherry and peach 


Whale oil and quassia 
chips or black leaf 
tobacco dip: 1 part 
to 70 parts water 






Apple 










!! AnViln 


Hop. rose, house plant 
etc 


Whale oil and quassia .. 








Cabbage, cauliflower 


Paris green dust 








Turnip and Cabbage 


Whale oil and quassia.. 




11 Slug 


Pear 


Arsenate of lead or 






white arsenate 


12 Slug 


Cherry 


Arsenate of lead or 






white arsenate 


13 Red Spider 


Fruit trees and bushes 


Sulphur-lime wash 






14 Blister Mite 


Pear leaf 


Sulphur-lime wash 




Peach and prune 




15 Peach Tree Borer .... 








16 Flathead Borer 


Apple, mainly 








17 Cottony Scale 


Maple, currant and pop- 
lar 


Kerosene emulsion 












18 Scab 


Apple, pea.r 


1 part lime and sul- 
phur to 25 parts 
water 

Sulphur-lime wash. 
Add salt 


19 Leaf Curl 


Peach 






20 Peach Mildew 


Peach 


Weak solution sulphur- 






lime wash 


21 Gooseberry Mildew . 


Gooseberry 


Weak solution sulphur- 



lime wash 



Idaho Svraying Calendar 



233 



First Spraylns 


Note*. 


While the blossoms are fall- 
ingr. Spray with force di- 
rectly into every flower. 
Uae a Bordeaux nozzle. 

In the spring before the buds 
burst 


Repeat when first brood of eggs are 
hatching. Spray third time three weeks 
after the first worms appear under 
the bands and again three weeks later 

Be sure and cover every portion of 
the tree as this spray only kills by 




contact. 


When the leaves are off the 
trees 


After the eggs under the scales? 
hatch (May 15 to June 15) spraying 
with kerosene emulsion 1 part to 10 
parts water or whale oil soap 1 lb 
to 5 gallons water is effective. 




.lust as the buds swell in the 
spring 




When the leaves are oft the 
trees 


When the insects appear whale oil 
soap and quassia chips or tobacco sheep 


When the insects appear and 
before they curl the leaves 


dip are the most effecti_ve_remedies. _ 




Remove the soil about two feet 
around the trunk and dissolve a pound 
of lye in a bucket of water or use 
prepared solution of lime and sulphur 
In proportion of 1 part L-S to 5 
parts water and pour on the exposed 
roots, coyeringjmmediately with dirt. 


When the insects appear 


Repeat if necessary. 


Before the worms eat into 
the cabbage 


Make dust of one part Paris green 
and 25 parts bran or flour. 


Just as soon as the Insects 
appear 


Repeat if necessary. 


When the insects appear 




Spray early in the season 
when the fruit is nicely 
formed 


If you wait until insects appear the 
fruit is ready to pick which makes it 
undesirable to spray at this time. 


When the leaves are off the 
trees 


This will kill the winter eggs. If 
the mite appears in summer, use the 




kerosene emulsion. 


When the leaves are off the 
trees 






Dig out the worms in fall and spring 
with a knife. During p-rowing season 
whitewash base of trunk. 




Dig out the worms in fall and spring 
with a knife. During growing season 
whitewash base of trunk. 


When insects become cottony 
(May) 


Add more soap than the formula 
calls for. Repeat 10 to 12 days later 




if necessary. 


Tust before the blossoms open. 


Again while the last blossoms are 
falling. Spray once or twice during 
the season, later if thought necessary. 


Just before the buds open .... 


Be sure and add the salt to the lime 
and sulphur mixture. 


Just Before the buds burst. 




Just as the buds burst 


Repeat when the fruit is well set. 



